Post by Back to being Cenanuff on Aug 1, 2010 7:18:05 GMT -5
I remember when I was 16 (1990), and there were only a couple of girls in my graduting class that had an actual Sweet 16 party, but it was just one of those things where the parents rented a hall, bought a big cake, hired a DJ, and had chips and pop. And at the time I thought it was totally cool of the parents to do this, because it let the girl have a party with lots of friends there. Fast forward 20 years, and a Sweet 16 party is considered almost a birthright for a girl, and there's this sense that it should be as extravagant as possible. What's worse, there's actually parents that go for this crap, and they're not considered out of their mind. There was one that took place earlier this year, where the parents rented out a night club, and let their daughter invite 200 people. What ended up happening is the invitees invited a bunch of their friends over text, and there ended up being over 1000 people showing up at this party, which never happened because the police shut it down before it started. But my point is, when did 16 become sweet, and why the hell would parents indulge their children like that? Do they not realize that they're just reinforcing the idea that their child is the center of the universe? I realize that MTV has a series on this very subject, and I think it's irresponsible that they promote this show, knowing that it influences girls to think their 16th birthday is some special occasion that requires a party that costs their parents a good $10k.
