Prom night in the age of COVID-19 looks a lot different, but at one school in New Hampshire, there is outrage from some parents who say that unvaccinated students were singled out, with some calling it “branding” after teachers marked the hands of students to indicate whether or not they were vaccinated.
Teachers used a black marker to write a “U” for unvaccinated, and a red marker to write a “V” for vaccinated. The school defended its decision, saying it was needed for contact tracing.
In an email to NBC10 Boston, the school district explained that the labeling was the school's own contact tracing system, which allowed all students to attend prom whether vaccinated or not.
"Our student and parent feedback has been extremely positive regarding the prom experience. We are aware that some concerns have been expressed that students were singled out or had their privacy violated. We made every effort possible – while adhering to contact tracing guidelines – to ensure that this did not happen," Principal Mike Monahan said in a statement. "We hope the community will understand that while no model is perfect, this model let the students enjoy a close to normal and highly desired experience to cap off their senior year. That’s the memory we want to leave them with."