Well, yes and no.
Events like prom, homecoming, spirit week, senior week are popular events amongst students. People dress up, take pictures, post on instagram and call it a night. That being said, do people even dance anymore? Short answer. No. The majority do NOT. This is a complete contrast from years before covid.
Besides not dancing, students aren’t even going to well-known events anymore which has resulted in some being shut down or others barely hanging on by a thread.
Originally, when the seniors came to BHS there was one big tradition for both freshman and sophomores: the black light dance. From the pictures I used to see on social media as a middle schooler, it always looked so much fun. Neon everywhere, glow in the dark lights, balloons, paint… just overall fun. But, the complete opposite happened when we tried it freshman year.
Our freshman year, barely half of the grade showed up, the music wasn’t great, and everyone kept complaining about how boring it was. It was a lost cause. At the time I was on student council for both my freshman and sophomore year and we tried our hardest to make it enjoyable, but it failed. Come sophomore year, we decided we did not even want to do it. Now, the sophomores and juniors do their down formal, but a beloved BHS tradition is gone.
Secondly, the fall musical. Am I a little biased because I have been acting for 4 years and producing for 2? Maybe, but across the board, teachers, staff, alumni, and student performers have all said that no one comes to the musicals anymore. Pre-covid, the fall musical was always a sell-out. Now, we struggle to even fill out the middle section of the auditorium. Recently, we have had little to no students come see the musical. Not to mention that year after year, less people audition, and theater becomes an afterthought. Myself, along with many of the upperclassmen are worried about the theatre guild’s future once we leave.
So why has student participation dropped over the years? In my opinion, Covid and Social Media.
Covid obviously shut everything down, yet when activities came back the participation was not the same as it used to be. This is where social media comes into play. With covid came increased screen time, social media, and basically everyone’s life being online. I think that dancing or going to events like the musical or blacklight dance, simply doing ‘ordinary’ teenage behaviors, is considered “embarrassing” due to that fear of being put online. That fear of judgment, the fear of not being seen as ‘normal’, the fear of not fitting in–all of these are affecting the BHS student population.
At the end of the day, it is important to go to student-run events or performances. That is one of the points of high school! Make some new friends and enjoy yourself while doing it. We should not allow the fear of social media and embarrassment prevent us from doing so. So, have fun. We only get to experience high school once!
