Patch Readers Weigh in on PHS' Cancellation of Homecoming Dance

More than half of those who voted in a Patch poll last week disagree with the decision by Princeton Regional Schools to cancel the annual homecoming dance.

The poll asked, "Do you agree with PHS' decision to cancel the homecoming dance due to an increase in inappropriate dancing?"

Patch collected 130 responses collected over 48 hours.

The responses were as follows:

53 people, or 40 percent responded, ‘Yes! Good for the school for taking a stand!"

11 people, or 8 percent responded, ‘Yes, but I wish the kids didn't have to lose something so great."

32 people or 24 percent responded, No, there had to be another solution (more chaperones?) to keep the dance."

34 people, or 26 percent, responded "No! This is how kids dance, get used to it!"

Administrators canceled the dance, scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 1, due to an increase in inappropriate dancing that, while acceptable to teens, was difficult to chaperone. 

The dance was replaced by a movie at the high school followed by an outdoor bonfire.

Readers had some strong opinions on this topic, which they left in the poll’s comment section.

"It's hard to take this seriously while Footloose is being remade and administrators mistakenly believe that children will somehow get into less devious behaviour attending an event in a pitch dark room or around a bonfire outside at night." -Carallen Miller Speth

"Give warnings if you're the chaperones--that's your job as a volunteer. Embarrass the repeat offenders by calling the parents to have the offenders escorted home separately (who wants their parents showing up when they're out with friends for a parent-free evening? No one)." -Carallen Miller Speth

"As long as they keep on grinding on each other the way they do it's absolutely the schools prerogative to end the dance. The students seem to think a dance is like Dirty Dance minus the dancing. It's one thing to dance it's entirely different to simulate sex on a dance floor. They have no one to blame but themselves for losing this privilege." -David Smith

"What boy at any dance in school wasn't trying to get his groove on at the dance? This is ridiculous." -Jay L. 

"Parents complained about the same thing in the 80s when I was in high school. Parents complained about the damned dirty hippies in the 60s, Elvis in the 50s, Swing & Frank Sinatra in the 40s. Jazz, blues, & the Charleston when my grandparents were in high school." It's sad how short people's memories are." -Caraellen Miller Speth

"Sorry you cannot convince me (or most teachers) this is appropriate in a school and considering how liberal Princeton Public Schools are the dancing must really be out of control because those kids run the place and their parents threaten to sue whenever someone stands up to them." -David Smith