Is there anything that could make a midde school dance more uncomfortable or humiliating? How about being the only kid not in the "VIP room?"
That's right, New West Charter School in West LA (see map) offered VIP room access, complete with laminated passes, only to students who paid an additional $5.
The exclusive area was described by blogger Marcy Magiera, whose son attends the school, the New York Times reported.
Magiera wrote in disbelief on her blog, BellaNoise, "What’s next, bottle service? $10 for a jug of Coke maybe, served by a high-schooler in short shorts? While everyone else gets Capri sun pouches grabbed out of a tub full of ice??"
She wrote, as any protective mother would, that middle school is hard enough as it is, with rollercoaster hormones, acne attacks and popularity contests.
Her son explained to her that the extra $5, on top of the $15 general admission price, would grant him the privelage of hanging out in the VIP lounge, enjoying a dessert bar and taking home some swag. "One assumes it also is supposed to buy belonging and social security, superiority even," she added.
Magiera and her husband refused to buy their son's way past the "velvet rope." They did not give "The Boy" (how the blogging mother refers to her son in the post) the extra cash - and told him to walk "to the next joint" when he sees a VIP red carpet in real life.
In an update, the mother shared her son's report back on the lounge: "The Boy said it was pretty packed and some of his friends even bought in, though they didn’t spend much time inside the 'rope.'"
New West's principal, Dr. Sharon Weir, did not respond to The Huffington Post's request for comment.
Forbes, which tracked down the charter school's name, jokingly compared the dance to an in-house version of New York schools who used Occupy Wall Street to teach students about the divide between the have's and have-not's.
Unfortunately, these students aren't more than a couple years away from likely paying a lot more for cool. This year's Visa survey found that families with teenagers attending the prom will spend an average of $1,078 on photos, limos, hair and makeup, tickets and a dress or tuxedo. Good luck, Boy.