This article won third place in the 2022 Michigan Interscholastic Press Association spring awards ceremony.
All by-lined opinion pieces reflect the opinion of the author only, not necessarily those of the Editorial Board, adviser and the rest of the staff.
A few weeks ago, the school announced its intent to host prom for the seniors on the football field. However, as Coronavirus cases climbed to nearly 8,000 daily across the state of Michigan in early April, that idea was scratched.
“Based on the current health and safety guidelines we need to modify our traditional prom,” Student Council Director Julie Haveman said. “Dancing is just not a safe or realistic practice during a pandemic.”
Taking its place is a “Senior Celebration:” dinner catered by Uccello’s Ristorante, a virtual reality simulation, laser tag, a photo booth, two caricature artists and a “surprise activity.”
It’s important to acknowledge the effort that went into planning a modified alternative. I also think it’s safe to say—in the most respectful way possible—that this is not what the seniors want.
I don’t understand how a dinner, where students will sit in close proximity without a mask on, is any safer than dancing outdoors while wearing masks.
I also don’t understand why Northview can’t devise a plan to make prom as COVID-friendly as possible when other area schools like Godwin Heights and Kenowa Hills have already done so.
We should keep the traditional prom model with some obvious precautions. For example, rapid tests could be administered prior to the dance, temperature checks could be taken at the door, and masks would be worn. The resources are definitely there because these exact measures are successfully protecting spring athletes right now.
Although counselor Dion Charity would need to stay on his toes all night wielding his social distancing lightsaber (a light-up tool used at previous dances for making sure students weren’t getting too friendly with each other), attendees could at least be instructed to stay in smaller pods spaced five yards apart on the football field.
Afterall, there are only 252 students in the senior class, and only a portion of that number would even show up.
According to an article from the University of California San Francisco’s Department of Epidemiology “A Japanese analysis of reported cases found that the odds of indoor transmission were nearly 19 times higher than outdoor … [the study] found that fewer than 10% of reported global SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infections have occurred outdoors. More of these occurred where there was no masking or social distancing.”
Taking these precautions would make prom plenty safe considering the entire student body is indoors and not socially distanced four days a week anyway. Not to mention, everyone going will have graduated already, so it’s not like they will return to school the following week and risk a possible outbreak should there be an incident.
Cliche as it may sound, Senior Prom is a glamorous milestone that many students look forward to from the time they are just kids watching Cinderella.
I would say the change is especially tough on the girls from the class of 2021, who didn’t get to wear a long, flowy dress last year either after the pandemic put the whole world on hold. Their idea of a fairytale all-american high school prom probably didn’t include laser tag.
People have the right to decide what’s safe for themselves and their families. These are adults we’re talking about; most of them are eighteen years old, and almost all of them are headed to college or a full-time job in a few months.
A waiver acknowledging the possible consequences of participating in a gathering is certainly something they can handle.
After the year they endured, the senior class is owed a proper send-off.
Ren McCormack from the 1984 movie Footloose said it best: “See, this is our time to dance. It is our way of celebrating life.”
