why do people go to prom/other school events?

i never understood why people go to school events like that because it always costs so much money, wastes most of your time that you could’ve spent on actually working and building your life, and you don’t get anything from it.

i understand people just do it for fun, but i’d rather stay home and do something useful with myself than spend nearly $300 just to stay in a gym for 4 hours on a saturday night.