YOU’VE got to feel a little sorry for the Midlands mum who scrimped and saved to spend £1,000 on her daughter’s prom only to be criticised so publicly.

The problem, you see, is that her daughter was only 11, and this was a primary school prom. Aimee Woolley even took an extra cleaning job to raise enough money to make daughter Beth look like a princess.

Apart from the argument about the validity of proms in primary schools,  there’s the whole divisive matter of competition with peers – that’s parents I’m talking about, not between the children.

Proms like this do put poorer parents in a terrible position, and it probably doesn’t do the children much good, either. They’re made to look like mini-adults, and celebrating what exactly?

Proms in secondary schools are understandable as the youngsters are on the verge of adulthood but it’s mystifying what primary school proms are all about. No. Let’s bin this silly American import and concentrate family funds on getting that new school uniform and necessary equipment. After all, the money only goes so far.