With Homecoming just around the corner there’s one tradition that should be ditched: mums.

    This absolutely pointless tradition started out as a simple little chrysanthemum that a boy would give his date in the form of a corsage. This developed into a small pin with some ribbons. Slowly people added more ribbons and charms. Eventually mums became so large,that real flowers could not be used and had to be replaced with fake ones.

    Once people started using fake flowers, the mums could be bigger. Larger flowers could hold more charms and ribbons. When one flower was not enough people started to use two, three and even four.     

    Today, it is custom to see girls with mums bigger than they are, complete with LED lights, stuffed animals, tons of ribbons, cow bells, beads and charms. All of that creates a large distraction for students.

   Nothing is worse than walking into school on the day everyone wears their mums. The halls are filled with jingling bells and bright lights. Then there is the inevitable conversations that interrupt class comparing mums, whose date got them a better mum, whose mum is more expensive or who made a better garter for their date. Mums provide nothing but a distraction for students and teachers alike. Some teachers even make students take off their mums for the duration of class.

    Some people have mum parties where they get together with friends and build mums as a group. If a student does not have the mum made for them, it can be expensive and take up time. Most students have a pretty packed schedule and taking the time to make a mum is not the best use of time.   

    Another reason mums are overrated is the price. Some people spend upwards of $300 for a fake flower with some ribbons they will wear once. There are better ways  students could spend that money. For example, donate it, save it for college or use it on literally anything else because it would probably be more useful.

    Spending $300 or more on a fake flower for four years adds up to about $1,200 by the end of high school.  

    Mums are also heavy. Besides having to carry the weight of the mum it’s only being held together by a thin ribbon. Often times the mum is so heavy that the ribbon can’t support it and it  breaks. So all the work they put into this mum was for nothing.  

    Students have better things to spend their time and money on and should ditch the mum trend.

For a Pro-mum read, click here: Mum-mazing-mums