What is a high school dance? To a teenager, a high school dance is an opportunity for he or she to get together with their friends, listen to music, dance and have a good time. Dances are a time when relationships are formed between guys and girls. I still remember the high school dances I went to. I remember dancing with that certain guy who made my stomach jittery and my palms sweat. Conversely, I remember the pain of rejection when a guy I really liked never asked me to dance.
In a way, high school dances are a way in which teenagers come into their own. The outgoing rebels are in the front by the D.J., inevitably doing a juvenile form of a “mosh pit”. The preppies and jocks are in the second ring of the dance floor, doing the cool moves. Next, the groups of girls without dance partners rock and sway as they look longingly at the second tier. And finally, though a bit tragically, the kids who just don’t seem to fit in, line the walls, pop-can-in-hand, where the bleachers have been neatly tucked in for the dance. However, this scene, though it sounds familiar, is not all that is transpiring on today’s high school dance floor.
Recently, a school district made the news for canceling all of the dances for the rest of the school year. The reason? Some students refused to stop doing a dance in which explicit sex acts were imitated. Other places around the country, certain types of dances are being banned, and in other areas, bans are badly needed. In some places, I’ve heard of school districts mandating that girls may not wear thong-style underwear to dances because there were cases of teenagers engaging in sex on the dance floor. Sound far fetched? Absolutely, but sadly, these things are occurring.
I believe that the combination of sexually-charged, emotional music, as well as teenagers that are running on hormones and looking for their first boyfriend, kiss or sexual encounter contributes to this atmosphere. I do not believe that these types of situations are occurring in every high school across the country, but it is alarming to me that the behavior of our nation’s teenagers has gone so decidedly out of control. Many may say, “Well, we pushed the limits in our day too.” I know that is true, but how far can the limits be pushed before high school dances become an all-out orgy? Call me reactionary, but the heavy rock music and sexual attitudes that prevail at high school dances are not something to which I would be willing to expose my teenager.
When I was in high school, in a school district for a town of 3,000 people, I remember some fellow-classmates coming to dances under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Yes, oftentimes students did get caught and were disciplined, but just as often, they did not.
I have moral objections to high school dances for several reasons, including the style of music, the sexual behavior it invites, and the exposure it gives students to substance abuse. Call me a prude, but the Bible says that we are to be wise concerning the things of God and simple concerning evil.
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