Students all over the country, even in the small town of Powell, have spent the last few months absorbed with the latest trend to hit the hallways: promposals, or the surprising ways people ask dates to prom. 

As fun and exciting promposals can be, oftentimes promposals can guilt students into saying ”yes” regardless of who asks them. There’s an unspoken pressure behind these creative gestures.

“I think promposals are funny, and it makes someone feel good to receive a nice gesture,” junior Kami Jensen said. “But I would have a hard time saying no to a promposal because you don’t want to hurt their feelings, especially if they’re your friend. It also might feel awkward if you say no.”

It’s a common agreement that this pressure does exist. Many students would agree that no one should be given a hard time for saying no, but it’s still expected to say yes to look like a “good person.”

“I feel like it’s okay to say no,” junior Simon Shoopman said. “But I would have a hard time saying no because I don’t say it very often, and I feel like they might get offended.”

Not only does it place a ton of pressure on the person being asked, but also on the individuals who pop the question. The asker will most likely be concerned about the responses of whomever they are asking. 

“Personally, if I promproposed to somebody I would expect them to say yes,” junior Jordyn  Schuler said. “It would take a lot of bravery and courage, so I wouldn’t want to embarrass myself by having them say no.” 

Although promposals are charming, touching, and thoughtful, they can be negative based on the intention of who’s asking. They can become a competition of who can create the most extravagant way of asking or used to force the other person to say yes.

“Honestly, I feel that some people do promposals as a way to get someone to say yes,” Schuler said. “It would be hard to say no when someone puts that much effort into asking you.” 

However, everybody should be able to enjoy their prom with whomever they want. Just as the asker chooses who they are asking to prom, anyone should be able to choose their response, and ultimately choose who they want to go with.