Prom is a rite of passage for transitioning into adulthood.

The idea of prom, however, is changing. Students no longer want to go to a school event with breathalyzer tests and chaperones. Though they still dress up, take pictures and go to dinner, many avoid the dance and get drunk — often on party buses.

“More of the higher times of alcohol and drug activity is around this time of year and leading into the summer when kids aren’t in school and don’t have those kinds of responsibilities and are unsupervised,” Jen Jordan, of Draw The Line, said.

Over the years, party buses have become the backdrop for excessive drinking and tragic accidents. One of the most horrific events took place in 2006 when partiers rode on top of a party bus going to at KU football game. John Green, a passenger, died when his head smashed into the bridge under which the bus was passing. Another passenger, Chris Orr, was critically injured in a similar manner.

Green’s widow later sued the party bus owners, manufacturers and operators. Nearly all of the defendants in the case settled, but the gruesome accident exposed the dangers of party buses.

The incident showed both the lax safety regulations on party buses and the poor choices people make when under the influence of alcohol. If 30-year-olds, can’t control themselves on party buses, how are teenagers suppose to control themselves? If you believe that seniors on their way to prom are focused on following the law, you’re crazy.

Proponents of party buses say that buses help keep drunk teenage drivers off the road. Drunk teenager drivers, as recent history has shown, pose safety threats to themselves and others. According to Kansas Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free, drivers between ages 15 and 20 were involved in 69 fatal crashes in 2013, with 25 drivers cited as alcohol impaired.

At the same time, however, the case can be made that party buses encourage drinking.

“We can get wasted tonight,” teens brag. “We don’t need a driver tonight. We have a party bus.” As sad as it sounds many students justify themselves with those kinds of statements.

Students drinking is also encouraged since party bus drivers are known for looking the other way when it comes to underage drinking. Usually adults are unwilling to drive drunk minors, but on prom night it’s common.

Students have to worry about the risks they are taking when stepping on a party bus or anywhere else for that matter, drunk.

“Party buses are a way to have fun and be with your friends,” sophomore Meshayla Garcia said. “It’s not fun when someone throws up from drinking too much alcohol though.”

Students on party buses must also consider the risk of arrest while partaking in underage drinking on party buses as they could be pulled over by law enforcement if probable cause exists.

If caught, students may be charged as minors in possession.

“Bottom line is you have to be responsible,” school resource officer Michael Cobb said. “People need to be careful about the alcohol being on the bus and being consumed.”

Though party buses are a way to let loose and have fun, is getting an MIP or losing your life worth it? I bet we all know someone who has dealt with the legal consequences associated with underage drinking on party buses, and I can almost guarantee they wish they could take back their actions that night. I’m sure teenagers can find something else better to do than endanger their lives.

I value my life and my future, and I’m not willing to risk either for a one night that I might not remember. Are you?