Recently, school dances are slowly dying out due to decreased student interest, difficulty planning and a greater risk for behavioral changes. This could greatly impact student development and their social interactions as they get older.
In today’s world, it seems that teenagers are more disconnected than ever. On average, high schoolers spend up to 9 hours connected to digital media ranging from social apps like Facebook and Snapchat, to computers and television. With all of this screen time, students have less opportunity for face-to-face interactions.
Taylor Buckley, My School Dance’s Chief Operations Officer, said, “When in school, students spend time learning and studying, sometimes also behind a screen. At home, between extracurricular activities and homework, they are checking Instagram stories and streaming the latest episode of Pretty Little Liars. Most of the time, once kids get to high school, they are no longer having playdates with a variety of friends.”
Social interaction is one of the most important things that you can take from school. In the past, school dances, like homecoming and prom, served as a place for social interaction. Students are forced to find a date or group of friends to go with, go to the store and purchase an outfit, and have real, sometimes awkward, contact with other kids at the dance. Lately, school dances have become a thing of the past.
Buckley said, “Part of it has to do with lack of student interest in actually interacting with others outside of a screen, an issue that needs to be fixed regardless, or we will all be walking around like zombies with no communication skills. Another reason is that teachers and administrators do not want to plan school dances due to how much work they have been in the past. Finally, with greater parent involvement, schools have come under fire for disciplining students who do not abide by school rules for behavior at these types of events.”
Schools don’t realize how beneficial school dances are to them and to student development. They’re incredible fundraising opportunities, they create a greater sense of community within the school and they allow students to develop social skills that will be valuable to their life.
“Bringing dances back to life requires a change to how they are run. Currently, dance planning is stuck in the stone age of binders with past information, cash boxes, selling tickets at lunch and paper permission slips. Neither students nor parents operate like that anymore. Since students are on their phones for several hours a day, they want to purchase tickets online and parents want to receive forms to sign via email,” said Buckley.
My School Dance provides a platform that moves dances from paper tickets to digital downloads. There is no cost for schools to use it. It allows you to collect agreements online, promote your dance and easily manage the difficult event-planning logistics.
Think about how impactful school dances were to your high school memories. Do your part in not letting school dances die and prevent student development from dwindling.
ABOUT MY SCHOOL DANCE
My School Dance is an online application that manages all aspects of school dances and events. The software enables schools to avoid the most difficult elements of event-planning logistics, including the drafting, distribution, and collection of paper agreements; organization of cash or check payments; and finding volunteers to sell tickets. Schools and organizations can promote their upcoming events, sell tickets online and securely process payments, and quickly access sales and fundraising data―all in one convenient location. My School Dance is secure, easy, and always free for schools to use. Learn more at www.myschooldance.com.