High school is filled with many new opportunities; the options are endless. People can finally be a part of the student section, have more class freedom, meet new friends, and have many other fresh possibilities. But for the most part, students tend to look forward to the high school dances. Dances can be a great way to spend time with friends and have a good time. However, those who say dances are the best night of their high school career are ignorant to the disadvantages of these events.

Dances create a gateway for one thing: drama. Drama, drama, and more drama. There’s drama about creating groups, there’s drama about someone wearing the same dress as you, there’s drama about dates, and there’s drama for everything else. Every single part that goes into the planning of a dance can create issues among friends. Those who are mostly smooth sailing can be endangered by the troubling seas of high school dances. There have been countless stories of close friends no longer speaking to each other all because of a dance. Friendships should not be sacrificed for one night of fun. Friendships are more permanent than a dance, and it’s time we start treating them as such.

Dances can be overly expensive. After spending money on tickets, dinner, a dress or suit, and boutonnieres or corsages, the total cost of a dance could be close to two hundred dollars with all things considered. This is a hefty price for something that lasts about 4 hours. Instead, someone could possibly spend their money on different things, such as a small vacation or front row tickets to a concert they’ve been dying to see. It is not necessary to spend this much money on the same experience ten times throughout high school.

Let’s talk about the dance itself. Honestly, I have never found it to be that great. Most of the time, the songs are not very good, and the DJ often does not take requests. It can be difficult to have fun at a dance when they refuse to play songs you like. If the songs were better, it could be more enjoyable. But almost every dance I have attended plays the same songs without fail. It’s not fun; it’s repetitive. Why is there a need to take a great sum of time and money for the same experience at every dance? You shouldn’t feel the need to experience the same thing multiple times; every dance is just too similar.

I simply cannot understand how some people say one dance has been the best night of their life. Honestly, a dance should not be the best night of your life. While there are some exceptions to this statement, I believe there are too many people that say this. If you think the best night of your life is homecoming or prom, you could be missing out on so much. There are better things in life than sitting inside of that high school gym where people awkwardly attempt to entertain each other with their less than proficient dance skills. Some of the best moments I have experienced have been on the night of a dance. But- total shocker- I didn’t even go. There is so much life that is yet to come, and a dance should not be the best moment throughout your four years of high school.

People should not feel that it is necessary to go to every single dance in high school. If you don’t want to go, you should not feel that you are going to miss out on the best day of your life. There are more high school moments that are better than dances, and a dance should not be the defining moment of your high school career.