One of the premises regarding the modern American educational system is that education has a social component in addition to academic instruction. In keeping with this philosophy, many schools host dances for their students, generally staring in middle school.
In middle school, dances tend not to be formal – there are usually no set dates, so boys and girls can go “stag” – the girls don’t have to wait around for a boy to ask them to the dance, and boys don’t have to stress over getting turned down by a girl. Also, at middle school dances the music is generally not performed by a live band, but comes rather from students’ music collections.
In high school the dances tend to be more formal, although there are a few that are decidedly not formal. Also, in high school the music is more likely than in middle school to be performed by a live band, but of course it depends on the budget of those organizing the dance. The boy usually asks the girl to the dance, but there are a couple of notable exceptions to this: a Sadie Hawkins dance (non-formal, based on a comic strip character who couldn’t find a beau, so she chased the eligible bachelors) and a Turnabout dance (formal).
The number of dances each year varies from school to school, but there are two big dances that are a nearly universal experience for every American high school: the annual Homecoming dance, and the annual Prom. We’ll have more to say about these special dances in future Education Focuses.