I chaperoned my first middle school dance this past weekend.
Each of the catholic schools in the area take turns throughout the school year hosting dances for the middle school students. August has been to a couple of dances at other schools, and this past Friday evening it was his school’s turn to host.
Of course I took the opportunity to be involved as a parent chaperone.
It’s been over 30 years since I was at a middle school dance. Or any school dance for that matter. There were a couple of things that struck me as I watched these middle schoolers tackle the dance floor.
The first was how many of them were actively dancing.
I mean, most of the kids were actually in the middle of the floor in some form of undulation. Sure, there were some on the sides but not that many and they seemed to be resting or trying to talk to their friends before hitting the dance floor.
This was in direct contract to what my memories of attending a middle school dance was like. There were people in the middle dancing, but not as many as were on the outskirts.
I wonder if it has anything to do with the nature of catholic versus public school.
This picture here is of me and my friend just “hanging out” and yes, that is a giant speaker between us. And I’m not wearing glasses because I was trying out contacts at the time.
And you wonder why I have early hearing loss.
The second thing that struck me as I watched these middle school kids endlessly dance was how much better the music was. Maybe not necessarily better (being a subjective matter), but better for dancing.
From what I remember of dances during my middle school years, there were songs by AC/DC, The Cars, The Police, Billy Joel, and Foreigner. This past Friday the kids were dancing to songs by Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, One Direction, and several others that I didn’t recognize because I’m old and not hip anymore.
What surprised me, however, was how excited these kids got when Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” came on. And they knew all the words. Are all of their dads listening to the same radio station I do?