The beginning of high school is a fresh start. Away from those middle school years of puberty, awkwardness and drama, and into high school with its more mature, more dignified outlook on life. Oh yes, and of course the more intense dances.

As eighth graders transition into their freshmen year, the type of dancing also transitions. While middle school dances consisted of boys on one side, girls on the other and the occasional awkward slow dance, high school dances are more in-your-face. Well, more on your backside anyways.

While many, myself included, don’t have a problem with this transition, some do. At least, their parents do. Time and time again, administration has received letters of complaint from various parents of freshmen complaining about the Welcome Back Dance. These parents complain about the “inappropriate” dancing, the lack of administration interference and the discomfort their child felt while attending the dance.

My advice to these freshmen and their parents? If you don’t like the dancing, don’t come.

The Welcome Back dance is the first dance of the school year, and is a way for students to welcome in new freshmen into high school. Upperclassman, mainly juniors and seniors, particularly hunt out freshmen during the dance and dance with them. But everyone has a choice in whether they want to dance or not. If you don’t want to dance, just say no.

However, due to the constant complaining of parents, administration does try to limit how low you can go while dancing. This past week while giving zero tolerance presentations to students, administration discussed appropriate ways to dance. The basic rules given were that both feet must be on the ground, no hands can touch the ground, and you must remain vertical while dancing. While some parents might still complain about these changes, administration is doing its best in compromising between hormonal teenagers and unhappy parents.

While dances are generally held for people to dance, Leadership could include some other activities that don’t include dancing. This could be a compromise for parents and students, and these alternative activities might appeal to more people and increase the overall attendance. Since there are now only three dances available for the whole student body to attend, there could potentially be board games, video games or even Foosball tables to keep students occupied. This is an easy solution that was added to last years Junior Prom, and made the prom more diverse, and gave more options. This could be a potential solution to calm the nerves of anxious parents, and could be another activity for uneasy, non-dancing freshmen. However, this isn’t a solution that gets rid of the dancing aspect during the dance. It is a compromise in adding additional activities and making the event more enjoyable for everyone.

So parents, before you get all worked up about the dancing, just remember that it is a high school dance. And freshmen, no one is holding you at gunpoint to attend. Come to the dance, and if you don’t like it or feel uncomfortable, then leave. But freshies, make the jump into high school. You are no longer in middle school, so don’t make your parents complain about what you don’t like. Suck it up, or simply don’t come.