The clouds have parted, the snow has melted, the scarves, hats and mittens have been tucked away and the ice cream trucks have come out of hibernation. Yes, it's that time of year again. It's prom season. And with prom season - and all its' glorious sun and ice cream filled days - comes an overcast of gloomy prom headlines: parents concerned about underage drinking, school administrators concerned about explicit lyrics, students spending record amounts of money, teen pregnancies, segregated facilities and so on and so forth.

I'm not trying to say that these issues completely ignored through out the year. I guess I'm just concerned that when i google-search prom, what comes is mostly negative headlines focusing on the problems of prom.

There are probably a few things going on here:

-News, in general, likes to focus on disasters and mishaps. Let's be honest, people, for whatever reason, like to watch it more. More viewers means more ads. More ads means more money.

-Issues that exists year round come to the surface around prom: when parents, students and the administration all come together for one last harrah, 4 years of pent up denial and repression come back to haunt what should be the best night of a teenager's life.

What I love about the World's Best Prom is that it addresses a lot of issues without being dramatic. Take, for example, Tonya, who's prom experience is one mishap after another. But her story doesn't end there. Her story goes on to a personal level, to a place that headlines won't go because it's not breaking-news worthy. Also, the World's Best Prom doesn't go out of it's way to exploit "hot" topics like underage drinking, racism, classism and sex. Instead it shows you what's really going on, without exaggerating or passing judgment. WBP goes deeper than a headline and, in doing so, presents a wonderfully touching and moving side of prom without ignoring issues or exploiting them for shock value.