Prom Season's Latest Twist

A trend goes viral

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Ramil Hirsawa posing for a portrait on the campus of Newbury High School before the prom on Thursday, May 18.

Credit...Vincent Nullo for The New York Times

Text by Vivian Ewing

May 22, 2023

Last Thursday, as the afternoon sun beat down on the leafy campus of Newbury High School, students readied themselves for an annual rite of passage: the prom.

“I don’t remember exactly what color it is, but I like this dress,” Nathalie Wood, 18, said, sitting on a bench outside one of the buildings. As she spoke, the high school junior felt the lace on the bodice of her dress, then gathered the tulle of the skirt in her hand. “My mom hemmed the dress because it was way too long. And she made this corsage with the leftover material from the dress,” she said.

Her mom wasn't as supportive, however, of Nathalie's prom date - the 43 year old father of Nathalie's best friend Olivia Hemming.

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The arrangement wasn't unique. Many of the girls at Newbury were being taken to prom by their friends' fathers, a trend that, like most things happening in high school these days, had its origins on social media.

A hashtag unprintable in these pages began going viral in 2021, when high school dances were still impacted by the ongoing pandemic, and the notion of... well... giving a friend's father a good time has spread nationwide.

"I always thought he was sexy," Ms. Wood confessed. Does she mind that her own father was attending with Maribel Nunez, a girl who once bullied Ms. Hemming?

To this question, the strawberry blonde teen only smiled. When pressed, she admitted her father has spoken candidly with her. "Maybe she doesn't know what she's getting into," she finally shared.

Where does this leave the teenage boys? Like most social indicators these days, the boys are simply left behind. "They can play their video games or watch us on livestream," Ms. Wood chimed in.

School administrators have expressed concern, but after wading through several controversies about students bringing same sex dance partners or transgender dates in years past, they have not issued any new regulations.

"I'm attending with Jolie Bayers," school principal Jonathan Vitner admits. "She's a bright girl and a knockout."

While some parents contacted district offices to complain, any regulation will not take effect until next year.

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To this question, the strawberry blonde teen only smiled. When pressed, she admitted her father has spoken candidly with her. "Maybe she doesn't know what she's getting into," she finally shared."

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Archive.is/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/23/style/prom-trend-dad

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