Being an expert in the school event management industry, we’ve noticed school dances and other events are slowly dying out due to decreased student interest, difficulty planning and a greater risk for behavioral changes. If this continues to happen, it could greatly impact student development and affect their social interactions and as they get older. But, if done right, could be beneficial for students in the long run.
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 which is not beneficial for students.
When students are in school, they spend time learning and studying, sometimes also behind a screen. At home, between extracurricular activities and homework, they’re checking Instagram stories and streaming the latest episode of Stranger Things. Most of the time, once kids get to the high school level, they’re no longer having playdates with friends.
Importance of Social Interactions
I’ve learned over time that social interaction is one of the most important things from your school experiences and is beneficial for students. In the past, school dances, like Homecoming and Prom, served as a place for social interaction. Students are forced to find a date or a group of friends to go with. Then go to the store and purchase an outfit, and have real, contact with other kids at the dance. Lately, school dances have become a thing of the past.
Part of it has to do with a lack of student interest in actually interacting with others outside of a screen. This issue needs to be fixed regardless. Another reason is that teachers and administrators do not want to plan big events. This is due to how much work they have been in the past. Finally, with greater parent involvement, schools have come under fire for disciplining students. They who do not abide by school rules for behavior at these types of events.
Schools don’t realize how beneficial school dances/events are to them and to student development. So, here I wanted to provide some awesome benefits for your students.
BENEFITS OF SCHOOL DANCES AND EVENTS
Fundraising: They are incredible fundraising opportunities for the school.
School Culture: Creates a greater sense of community within the school, improving the climate and culture throughout the building.
Confidence: Allows students to have higher self-esteem and courage.
Life-Skills: Provides real-life skills that students need such as communication skills, teamwork, time management, goal setting, and leadership.
Develop Emotional Intelligence: A variety of Social events help develop social skills and empathy. The interactions elicited by events helps students build relationships, engage with other cultures, and understand different perspectives.
Productive Break: Students need to take their mind off upcoming exams or report due dates every once in a while. Events will allow them to escape and recuperate so they don’t get burned out.
Building Relationships: They are great opportunities for students to make friends and engage with people they might not have interacted with before.
Bringing dances back to life requires a change in 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.
My School Dance Platform
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-managing logistics. By using this platform, schools are able to create more dances and social events in a much easier way. This allows for more face-to-face social interaction which is beneficial for students.
Lastly, I just want to leave you all with this. Think about how impactful school dances were to your high school memories. If you’ve noticed that school dances have been dwindling in your community, My School Dance could be the app that brings them back!
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. This includes 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.
