Our school puts on an outdoor Fri night post-football game party instead of a Sat homecoming dance. Administrators and police prefer the timing since they're already there for the game. We can't play music due to noise ordinances. In the few years since we started it, the party has become a 9th/10th grade event.

It seems like the private schools don't have as much of an issue with this as the public schools do.

I agree - times have definitely changed.

Whether it's the not going at all, going with just a group of friends, no dinner, no date, etc etc. I think this generation has clearly shown that there's not a whole lot of interest in attending the actual event. Which is sad for all the people who put so much time and effort into it....

I guess it seems strange to all of us who were so invested in it, but I agree maybe some creative brainstorming and hearing what kids actually want might be a good idea.

From what I gather, getting good pics with your friends for the 'gram seems to be the biggest focus. Then what are they supposed to do? Go to the dance? Why would they do that.....

My 9th grader had a great time but noticed it was mostly freshman. She already disconnect year she will still go in a big group to get ready, go out to eat, take photos and likely skip the dance. What’s the harm in still having a HOCO day? Who cares if they go to the dance. Let the freshman enjoy it.

As far as I know, many still attend the homecoming football games.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe it's time to change up some traditions.

That should be kid driven, not random mom driven.

The kids have a tradition established for the HoCo dances.

The tradition is that the dance is widely attended by freshman who go to eat at a local joint with parent drivers, and go for the whole homecoming experience, and the dance is moderately attended by sophomores, with a mix of parent drivers and friends driving.

The tradition continues with juniors and seniors just making a brief appearance at the dance, while they spend most of the night on pictures and a fancy dinner in the city that they drive themselves to, followed by big parties.

The kids already redefined the homecoming traditions. They don't need parents to ruin them.

I think that the high schools are quite happy with the HoCo dance mostly attended by freshman and sophomores, with very few juniors and seniors.

With most of the high schools between 2000-2900 students, the schools simply don't have space for all of the upperclassmen plus dates.

Anonymous wrote:Maybe it's time to change up some traditions.

That should be kid driven, not random mom driven.

The kids have a tradition established for the HoCo dances.

The tradition is that the dance is widely attended by freshman who go to eat at a local joint with parent drivers, and go for the whole homecoming experience, and the dance is moderately attended by sophomores, with a mix of parent drivers and friends driving.

The tradition continues with juniors and seniors just making a brief appearance at the dance, while they spend most of the night on pictures and a fancy dinner in the city that they drive themselves to, followed by big parties.

The kids already redefined the homecoming traditions. They don't need parents to ruin them.

The post at 9:10 is spot on. Homecoming is more for the younger grades. Freshmen and sophomores. Prom is more important to juniors and seniors. When I was in HS, only juniors and seniors could buy tickets to prom, and they would only release tickets to freshmen and sophomores if there was still capacity at the venue after the upperclassmen had bought their tickets.

Maybe it's time to change up some traditions.

Anonymous wrote:Socializing and what is considered "entertainment " has drastically changed over the years. Even moreso for teens.

Fwiw, my freshman went to the actual Hoco dance, my junior and seniors did not (just the dress, photos, dinner, walking around, IHOP, then hone for movie/hanging out).

Oooh, this explains why I saw so many kids dressed up and walking around RTC last night when they should have been at the dance. How bizarre.

When they returned from covid, our FCPS high school administration organized a homecoming dance outside in the parking lot under the stars. They had several tents, food, photo booths and selfie stations, and more.

There was a staffed perimeter around the parking lot to prevent kids from sneaking in and out.

The dance was packed. Lots of upperclassmen attended. Everyone stayed until the end or for a large amount of time, instead of just making an appearance or skipping entirely.

I don't know how much exrra work it was, but shaking things up with something like moving it outside might be fun for the kids.


That being said, over the course of the 10+ years I have had high school kids, other than the outdoor post covid dance, the HoCo dance seems to go like this:

9th grade: "It was so much fun! Everyone was there. (The kids generally stay until the end)

10th grade: "It was ok. It didn't seem as crowded as last year." (Kids arrive a little late after dinner and pictures, then leave early to go to someone's house.)

11th grade: "We dropped in for around 15 minutes. It was soooo boring*." (Kids showed up around halfway through the dance, do a walk through, see no one but freshmen there, and leave for someone's house.)

* Note, the freshman sibling in attendance stayed for the entire dance and came home from the exact same dance saying the dance was packed, everyone was there, and it was so much fun.

12th grade: "We drove by after dinner but the parking lot was empty so we just went to the party."

The homecoming dances are mostly for freshmen and sophomores now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Socializing and what is considered "entertainment " has drastically changed over the years. Even moreso for teens.

Fwiw, my freshman went to the actual Hoco dance, my junior and seniors did not (just the dress, photos, dinner, walking around, IHOP, then hone for movie/hanging out).

I think that's how it worked with my now grads. Went the first year. Not so much later. Prom gets a lot more attention.

In our school the freshman go and the older kids stop by for 20 minutes, if that. I agree the whole even should be re-thought.

The SGA is responsible for organizing and hosting the events. So look at that apparently some students want to have it.

Weirdest post omg no one goes why do they even have it!

Next post omg they didn’t have a homecoming dance why not!

Y’all are shockingly ridiculous

Anonymous wrote:Socializing and what is considered "entertainment " has drastically changed over the years. Even moreso for teens.

Fwiw, my freshman went to the actual Hoco dance, my junior and seniors did not (just the dress, photos, dinner, walking around, IHOP, then hone for movie/hanging out).

I think that's how it worked with my now grads. Went the first year. Not so much later. Prom gets a lot more attention.

I wonder if they could do a different event?

Socializing and what is considered "entertainment " has drastically changed over the years. Even moreso for teens.

Fwiw, my freshman went to the actual Hoco dance, my junior and seniors did not (just the dress, photos, dinner, walking around, IHOP, then hone for movie/hanging out).

A homecoming game or parade might be well attended some years but the dances are empty. Why do schools/student put forth the effort and money? Kids get dressed up to go out to dinner and hang out. There is no coming home for a dance. Prom has a similar attendance record.

Seems like something else is needed these days.