High school blog

School is winding down, but rules at the high school definitely are not. The last dance – the Inaugural Ball – suffered from a heavy onslaught of rules and regulations. When students bought tickets, they were handed a little quarter sheet of paper bearing the newly created list of twenty or so rules. They were quite entertaining. People passed them around in class, a little shocked, a little skeptical. It was the underlying joke of the week. No one’s going to follow them, people said. Still, the night of the dance, attendance was low. At the door, hired security checked and inspected any and all bags. The entire contents of my purse was pulled out, as they checked for drugs or alcohol, or who-knows-what, weapons of mass destruction? It’s a school dance, not an airport. I half expected them to tell me to take of my shoes, empty my pockets, remove my jewelry and walk beneath a metal detector. I understand, though; in this day and age, when fear is driving our country, safety is of the utmost importance.
After the bag check, yellow bracelets were placed on wrists. If you got caught breaking any rules, it was removed as a warning. After that, if you got caught, you were kicked out. Inside, at the outskirts of the dance floor, teachers stood, scrutinizing and watching like hawks for any rule breakers. It was weird. I felt like I was under a microscope, a specimen for a scientific experiment.
The reason for the new rules is freak dancing. The administration thinks it’s too sexually suggestive. Says Emily Hawing, junior, “ It’s the generation. We don’t mean to disrespect, it’s just how we dance.” Ballet too was once thought risqué. Darrell Ross, math teacher, has a different perspective. Of the rules, he says he’s all for them. “That behavior is the reason I stopped chaperoning the dances.” I say, leave us alone. Let us at least dance how we want to dance. It’s kind of hard to have fun when all the adults in the room are glaring at you suspiciously like at any moment, you’ll jump up and commit a crime. There is no benefit of the doubt at the high school.