Socialism invariably destroys everything it touches, including even proms.

Back in the day, some kids used to enjoy saving up enough money through the semester so they could rent a lavish limo for their year-end senior prom. But thanks to the socialist mindset of one New Jersey school’s officials, this tradition is no more.

According to Trenton radio station WKXW, officials at Lakeland Regional High School made a decision this year to ban students from driving to their prom or renting a limo. Instead, every student must pay $15 to be driven to the prom at Rockleigh Country Club on a chaperoned bus.

The decision was made “based on the concern over the safety of all our students and in providing equity for all students so that they all could enjoy a shared ‘prom experience’ despite socioeconomic status, and based on the success that other districts have demonstrated utilizing this practice,” the school’s superintendent, Hugh E. Beattie, said.

He doubled down on this socialist rhetoric during a brief interview with New York station WABC, saying, “We have students from various socioeconomic backgrounds, and we wanted to provide an even playing field for all students.”

Watch WABC’s report below:

Because some students can’t afford a limousine or don’t own a car, Beattie and his peers at Lakeland Regional High School essentially believe that every student must suffer.

There’s a word for this mindset: Socialism. It’s the same mindset that’s transformed Venezuela from one of South America’s richest countries into a poverty-stricken slum.

But while the youth tend to look favorably upon socialism, the kids at this high school aren’t feeling it too much.

“I just don’t think it’s fair,” senior class Vice President Britney Tomasella said to WABC. “All our siblings have done it, older grades have done it, and there are no problems.”

“It’s a last farewell with our friends. One last hurrah!” junior Robin Yochim said to New York station WCBS, adding that she’d been planning to attend her prom with a limousine or party bus.

“It’s just one of the expenses,” senior Caitlin Heckler added. “You get your dress, your makeup, hair, nails, and then you get a limo. It’s one of the parts of prom.”

It’s called personal responsibility. While it’s true well-off parents sometimes pay for their kids’ prom expenses, there are plenty of cases of kids saving up prom money by themselves. Back in 2013, for instance, CNN profiled one such teen, Sarah Hoffer of St. Louis. The then-18-year-old reportedly saved up money from her job at a local car wash to pay for her prom.

But according to Beattie, personal responsibility is apparently a bad thing.

Listen to Heckler and other students below:

“The limo party or bus party is the best part of the night. For some kids it’s their first time being on a limo and that’s exciting!” senior Alex Barna added.

Parents are equally peeved.

“It’s just kind of a tradition, and they’re taking that away,” Holly Bosland, the mother of one Lakeland senior, said to The Record, a New Jersey newspaper.

“Bosland said students will essentially be held captive until the buses return them to the school at the end of the night,” the paper reported. “No parents or students will be allowed to drive to The Rockleigh in Rockleigh, unlike when the school used the venue in 2018, records show. No limos or party buses will be permitted on school grounds.”

HERE’S WHAT YOU’RE MISSING …

Welcome to socialism. This is what invariably happens whenever someone — be it a naive politician, a ruthless dictator or a school official — decides to “even the playing field.”

It’s an age-old endeavor that’s been repeated countless times throughout history — and always to no avail — and that nevertheless gets tried again and again and again.

Those who try such endeavors believe in equal outcomes, ergo why, for instance, everybody at Lakeland Regional High School must now take a lousy shared bus to the prom.

But those who subscribe to free-market capitalism and personal responsibility believe in equal opportunities. It’s why they preferred the old system wherein every student had the opportunity to rent a limo to the prom by simply working hard and saving up some money.

The irony, as a couple of social media users noted, is that Lakeland’s teachers and administrators will likely be traveling to the prom in their vehicles. How convenient!

But the teachers drive whatever they want. — LF (@TheMagnet32) March 2, 2019

That’s fine as long as all the teachers & administrators ride bicycles to school so no showing off their Mercedes, Lexuses, etc. vs others with their Toyota’s & Fords. — K.R. Lloyd Persaud (@Kayarel) March 2, 2019

Other social media users have taken to noting that this decision will do nothing but engender shared misery and bitterness:

Everything good being destroyed for the sake “equality”. The only equality that comes from such bans is equal bitterness among all, and a equal amount of ingratitude. — EmilyOTRFAN (@EOtrfan) March 2, 2019

Everybody has to be equally poor. Get jobs. — Okie from Muskogee (@gayla_powell) March 2, 2019

That’s messed up start the bread lines get equal. — George (@George73495692) March 2, 2019

….there is nothing wrong with being rich or poor. To punish one to make a point over another is doing nothing except exploiting the one whom you think you are protecting! Not everyone wins in life, I dont care how many participation awards they give out! Grow up!!! — John Bailey (@JohnBai17426411) March 2, 2019

No matter how hard these liberal idiots try there will always be man and woman, rich and poor, strong and weak, pretty and ugly, etc. and there is nothing they can do to change that. And to punish one group or person over another is wrong….. — John Bailey (@JohnBai17426411) March 2, 2019

More liberal bullshit. Everything liberals touch turns to ??. I mean everything! #anotherPOSdemocrat #LiberalismIsAMentalDisease — Mike S (@Gob1gR3d) March 2, 2019

HERE’S WHAT YOU’RE MISSING …