As someone who has attended every school-sponsored dance so far this year, I feel safe in saying that the dances have not been as enjoyable and student-friendly as they should be. At Homecoming I felt awkward even getting within a foot of my date and at WPA I had to revert back to the “jump” form of dancing from my middle school days. In anticipation of these strict enforcements, seniors decided to throw alternative dances.

For every dance this year there has been an alternative, so it just made sense that there be an alternative for the most important dance of all, Prom. Although the administration has not acknowledged or addressed any other alternative dance this year, there has been an active campaign to discourage students from promoting and attending alternative Prom. Incorrect information has been circulated, and the event has been blamed for harming school spirit and ticket sales for regular Prom.

This is uncomfortably similar to election time, where politicians focus on tearing down their opponents rather than promoting themselves. Rather than immediately addressing the problems with the dance policy, administrators looked for someone else to blame and found a convenient scapegoat in alternative Prom.

Alternative Prom is not really an alternative, but rather an additional Prom that seeks to supplement, rather than replace, the school Prom. It’s not on the same night, and tickets are less than the cost of a usual Saturday night dinner and a movie. Other schools with similar dance policies often have secondary dances after the school dance where they can dance the way they want. This is the function filled by alternative Prom, only on a completely different date so that it’s not in competition with the school Prom and After-Prom.

Prom is the last major event for seniors before they graduate, a night that should be remembered forever, and is an important milestone for juniors as well. However, juniors have a chance to continue working with the administration to improve the dance policy. This year’s alternative dances, along with student complaints, have encouraged the administration to try to improve the dance policy, but seniors are out of time for negotiation. Alternative dances would not have even been necessary if the administration had not lost sight of who the dances are really for. Dances aren’t for parents, teachers or the administration; they’re for students.

While the “connected sway” was a good start, many seniors remain unsure of how the dance policy will be enforced at Prom. Alternative Prom is a dance for students, by students and is being held to ensure that all seniors and juniors will have a positive Prom experience. I plan on attending the school-sponsored Prom and hope it will be great. However, I’m attending and organizing alternative Prom to make sure my senior Prom is everything I want it to be.