School Dances are not only fun to be a part of, but their benefits to the school outweigh the negatives

By:  Jessica Trueman, Editor 

“The French and the English kids are so divided in this school and a dance is a good way to bring them together and to force them to interact with one another”, says Avery Ross, a grade 8 student. Many people agree with Avery’s statement however there are some who would disagree. Those skeptics say that a dance is pointless for two reasons. The first one is that nobody dances when the music is played and the second is that, it is only another chance to exclude the school population that isn’t ‘dating’. 

Our students need something that will unite them. The joys, entertainment, and post-dance gossip is one of the rare events that can be equally discussed by both French and English students of any grade. “I met people at the dance that I wish I had met way before… They are nice people that I’ve never gotten to meet because they didn’t hang out where we did. We never ventured over to their part of the field”, says Avery. The dances are something that could be used to break down barriers between different groups of students who rarely get a chance to interact within the classrooms. A dance can be the method to which the many groups we have here at HMC can bond together into a school.  

There’s still the fact that the students going “dateless” are excluded from the slow dances, but the fact is it’s the complete opposite. Grade 8 student who wishes to remain anoymous, states “I don’t care if I have a date for the dance. I go to have fun, not to show off a boyfriend, and that never happens.  As for the slow dances, they are so few and so far apart that it doesn’t bother me at all.  Most of the time I even slow dance with friends, It’s always a big laugh, but no one really cares if I don’t have a date.” Many other people agree, “I have gone to every single dance last year, and this year, and not once have I gone with a guy. I still had a great time though! A lot of people I know don’t go to dances with a guy and if they're a guy, they don’t go with a girl, but we still all have fun”, claims grade 8 student Brianna Mastramatteo

As you can see, dances are only social events to amuse the HMC students and bring them together. They are not meant as an attack aimed to exclude the single members of the student population. Therefore, based on this reasoning, they should remain good, wholesome parts of our school’s special events.