FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Mallory Yohannan, 17, a color guard at Stoneman Douglas High School, spent the past three summers touring the country with a world-ranked drum corps.

“This year, my parents told me, ‘We can’t pay for it. We don’t have the money,’” said Yohannan, of Coral Springs, Fla., who is now looking for sponsors and scholarships to raise $2,400 for the trip. Although she earns $7.25 an hour at a part-time job at Town Center Mall in Boca Raton, Fla., that barely pays for her gas nowadays.

“My parents would help me if they could, but this year is really tight for them,” she said.

Living in troubled times is giving teens a hard-knocks lesson in economics. Some kids in middle-income and working-class families are opting out of senior prom, class trips and travel tournaments. Their parents, battered by rising food and gas prices, home foreclosures or job losses, don’t have the disposable dollars this year.

While missing a prom or other extracurricular activity isn’t likely to hurt kids in the long run, experts say, some events being sacrificed, like a tour of colleges, could have an impact on their future.

“Fear over the economy is causing people to cut back,” said Pan Yatrakis, professor of economics and finance at Nova Southeastern University in Davie. “Even people who are not in dire straits will cut back in fear they might find themselves in financial hardship.

“Some families would rather go without other things in order to give their kids `proms and trips.~ But when it comes to necessities like gasoline and food, obviously the luxuries are going to go first,” he said.

In Riviera Beach, JFK Middle School recently canceled its annual eighth-grade class trip to an Orlando theme park because few families could afford it this year.

“The economy is the major factor,” said Wondra Daniels, a juvenile probation officer whose daughter, Tiffany Wright, 14, was among those not going on the trip.

“A trip to Orlando is really not a priority. It’s not essential for her growth and development,” Daniels said. “Right now, that’s money I can save for a seriously rainy day, which I can already foresee.”

To motivate middle school students about their futures, the New Beginnings Beacon Center in Riviera Beach each year organizes a subsidized tour of colleges during spring break. The trip, which costs each student $125, stops at Georgetown and Howard universities in Washington, D.C., and three other colleges in Virginia and Maryland.

This year, about 35 kids went on the trip, down from 60 last year. Director James Easley said financial hardships kept home about two dozen students.

Some struggling families seek a compromise by allowing a limited number of activities for their children.

Renae Felix, 18, had to choose between grad night or her senior prom at South Plantation High School. Her mother, struggling with rising food and gas costs and working a full-time job, couldn’t help her pay for both this year.

Felix, who lives in Plantation, Fla., opted for the graduation trip. “I do mind missing prom but it’s one of the sacrifices you make,” Felix said. “The financial situation is not good right now. My mom has a lot on her plate.”