School dances on life support

The dimly-lit gymnasium reeks of sweaty teenagers. The snack table consists of warm pop and stale chips, though boys still cling to it like barnacles on the hull of a ship. Awkward slow songs create silence wrapped in nerves and nobody knows how to dance with their “date”. And still it was once of the most exciting school events of the year. 

Once a rite of passage, the school dance has nearly blinked out of existence. 

School dances have been a staple in the high school experience for ages. A chance to finally ask the person you like out, or maybe just a way to spend time with your friends in a positive environment. They are a joyful tradition that have transcended generations. However, students say that in past years these events have been few and far between. Students aren’t interested in dances, and many public schools have decided it is not worth the money if the excitement isn’t there.  

According to a 57-year-old university professor who went to high school in Vancouver, in the 80’s his school would have dances all the time. There would always be a theme, which was great for conversation and connection.  

And they had four dances every year. 

School dances weren’t just some optional social gathering, they were a staple and a major cultural event. 

Nowadays, many high schools are lucky to have one dance other than prom. A Burnaby school’s student council recently spent a few weeks planning an upcoming school dance. But when they put out a poll to gauge student interest, they realized it wouldn’t succeed. The event had to be cancelled. 

The previous year the story was almost the exact same. A dance was planned but could not go through due to not enough students wanting to attend. A longtime grade 11 council member at this Burnaby school who will be referred to as Chong told 8forty that for his four years in high school, “We had two dances, and they were both two years ago.” Chong thinks that student council is not pushing enough for these events to happen, and said “That year we had the best presidents of council, their main goal was to have a dance since we hadn’t had one for four or five years.”  He also suggested that the principal of the school makes a big difference, telling 8forty that the principal that year was very willing to use the budget for dances, and with him gone they are less likely to put one on. 

It’s no coincidence that as technology has become increasingly prominent, social gatherings in teens have become rarer. Many youth of today would much rather play video games with their friends or stay at home on their screens by themselves, than actually go outside and live in the world. Unfortunately, having grown up with this, kids don’t know what they are missing.  

Teenagers used to have to go out since there was nothing to entertain them at home, the professor said. “We went out because we were bored, there wasn’t anything to do inside all day.” We have to blame COVID partly for this because that was the only way kids could interact with their friends for a while, so it’s only fair that they’d be more comfortable with it now. Still though, COVID was long ago, and this screen frenzy needs to come to an end.  

Dances aren’t free, that’s the hard truth. The cost of putting on a school dance can be very high, especially if at a venue. Students don’t want to pay much to go to an event they already feel relatively indifferent towards, and many schools see this low interest and think that they should spend their budget elsewhere. This becomes a complete stalemate. 

A school needs events to have school spirit, so this shocking low interest from students has been devastating for the high school culture. Dances used to unite whole grades and schools, now they’re mostly a thing of the past. If school is just four classes and a club or two, where are the memories made? 

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