And We Do This Why?

Before I begin let me first issue a blanket apology to any of you former high school royalty out there. This post is not intended in any way to be a personal attack on those who at some time in their lives have been selected a king or queen during their academic careers. It's not about the people, it's about the tradition.

That being said, can someone please answer me why we in the U.S. persist in this strange custom of selecting homecoming queens and kings as part of the high school educational experience? As a reporter and editor who has covered high school sports in one capacity or another for the past 17 years, I have endured more queen and her court processions than any one person should ever have to. You want to talk about torture? Forget the water boarding and all that CIA secret military crap. You want to make a terrorist talk? Make 'em sit through about a half dozen homecoming processions. They'll be screaming secrets at the top of their lungs.

Seriously, though. What in the hell is the purpose of this activity? And how does it serve to enrich and fulfill the educational experience of the student body as a whole? Is it not bad enough that high school is already riddled with cliques and in crowds and constant pressure to fit in and be popular that on top of that we have to have administration-sponsored popularity contests? Complete with crowns, robes and roses? And the end result? One or two kids feel great and the rest feel inadequate. Great idea!

Considering the climate that has come to prevail in much of youth sports... you know, where all the kids get a trophy and nobody is a loser... it seems truly amazing that we've let this institution continue virtually unchanged. Where is the outcry about this and how it shatters the self-esteem of all those kids who don't get named to the court? Where are the parent groups clamoring for a crown for all the girls so everybody feels like a princess? I don't hear them. No, in fact often it seems just the opposite. The parents embrace this pageantry. You should see them drooling all over themselves to get pictures, giggle and laugh with the contestants, and fawn all over the winner.

Worse yet, I've seen many schools that have expanded the practice. Maybe it's just here in the Midwest, but now many schools have instituted a Winter Carnival Queen, Winter Ball Queen, or Blizzard Bitch, or Snow Slut or whatever they call it. Basically it's the same thing, just during basketball season. What's up with that?

Come on people! This has NOTHING to do with school! N-O-T-H-I-N-G!!! Am I the only one that thinks that maybe this is not the message we want to be sending our kids? Sure, I understand it is important to get along well with others -- it's often vital not only for surviving, but thriving in the workplace. Yet, life is not a popularity contest. Surely we have better things to spend our resources and energies on, things that will actually help prepare our kids for the real world out there.

So back to my original question: Can someone please answer me why we persist in this strange custom?