Should Gr. 8 have an online dinner dance?

Ela G.

As many of you know, due to COVID-19, ISM will not resume in-person school for the rest of the 2019/2020 school year. This comes as a great displeasure to our middle school students as we will now have to depart the year without experiencing many of the major “landmarks” that come with being an 8th grader. Through the devastation of missing our weeklong CWW in February, to the graduation of the batch of 2024 cancelled, the question lingers if there is a chance for a possible replacement for our long-awaited dinner dance. As many schools around the world turn to the online app, “Zoom”, students started to wonder if the dance were to follow the same regulations. But would it really be the same? Maybe not, but in my opinion, an online Zoom would be a sufficient replacement for the traditional dinner dance.

Although an online dinner dance will not be the same as it would have been in person, due to the current circumstance we are in, I believe it is the best option. Me, along with many other eighth graders, scheduled, anticipated, and prepared for the dinner dance all year long. As being the first ISM dance for students throughout their entire elementary and middle school experience, it was definitely something to look forward to. We even already voted on our theme: the glitter gala! After getting our hopes up, it doesn’t seem fair to cancel it. 

It is arguable that in a Zoom, there is no “in the flesh” interaction, so it wouldn’t be worth it. However due to social distancing regulations, it is in everyone's safety that the dance is held online. If, by law, we are to stay in our houses, it is especially uplifting to be able to see, dance, and talk with our classmates and friends all together before the school year ends. This way, even those who are leaving, or have left mid-year, are able to attend from wherever they are in the world, which wouldn’t be allowed to happen if the dance were to be postponed to another time. 

After already having the final CWW and graduation cancelled, there are very few critical moments left within our final year as middle schoolers. If we have the power to be able to meet up before high school all together, even if online, I say we should do it and show that we are united as a grade no matter where we are. 

Sofia A.

Dinner dance. An event that 8th graders look forward to every year, along with completing the final year of middle school and walking across the stage at the moving on ceremony. However, due to COVID-19 and Distance Learning, we are unsure if there will be a dinner dance this year. With several other events such as CWW and IASAS being cancelled, as well as an online Zoom replacing the moving on ceremony, us 8th graders have speculated what might happen in terms of the dinner dance. Will we have one? If we do, having an online dinner dance would not be a sufficient replacement. 

Having an online zoom would not live up to a real dinner dance. When you think about a school dance, what do you imagine? Getting dressed up, getting dropped off to school in a fancy attire, dancing together, partying with friends, and overall having a good time and bonding with your friends. However, an online Zoom dance would take away the beauty of the feeling that we’re altogether. Yes we could still celebrate through seeing our friends on video, however it is not the same as seeing everyone in real life. Dinner dance is all about socializing and being together, so sufficing with an online version would take away the whole purpose. It wouldn’t be any different than calling your friends every day, which is what many middle schoolers have been doing during quarantine.

One may argue that having an online Zoom dinner dance would be safer for 8th grade students as there is a lockdown going on and even if it is eventually lifted, social distancing would still be encouraged and physically meeting could still be dangerous. However, the safety issue could be easily solved by having a dinner dance during 9th grade, once we are able to attend school and it is safer to be with multiple people at a time. Despite the fact that we may have to wait a little bit longer, we would be waiting for a better outcome. Instead of just having to celebrate at home right now, we can just postpone the dance to a better time when we can see everybody and also dress up and get ready for the occasion. The dance would also be planned better and overall just be a more memorable experience for everybody. 

In the end, the batch of 2024 has unfortunately missed some significant moments in 8th grade. If the majority of our second semester has been spent on Zoom, I think it is unfair that our long awaited dinner dance should have to be celebrated on screens as well.