We felt that what the prom had become went against the moral and spiritual lessons we were trying to teach their children.

We watched a pattern develop. Twenty years ago, seniors went to the beach after the prom and then to someone's house for breakfast. From that, it's turned into a weekend-long orgy that every year has become incrementally more excessive.

The students came to us ... after reading our letter, saying they understand there have been abuses and they accept that as a problem. They would just like to have an event that celebrates their four years together and the idea of a dinner cruise was agreeable to us.

It is not primarily the sex/booze/drugs that surround this event, as problematic as they might be; it is rather the flaunting of affluence, assuming exaggerated expenses, a pursuit of vanity for vanity's sake - in a word, financial decadence.

The thing that we're most pleased about is that this recommendation came from the students.

For some, it (the letter) was an eye-opener. Others feel relieved that the pressure is off of them.