In the midst of the Homecoming season at Bel Air High, so many students are finding themselves wrapped up in excitement – finding a date and a dress, going to the parade and the Homecoming game, dressing up for spirit week, and sending roses… the list is endless. Even with all these activities, much of the student body doesn’t even go to Homecoming.

I have gone to Homecoming the two years I’ve been at Bel Air, and plan to go in  future years as well. The appeal of going to a school dance has always been obvious to me; I enjoy being with my friends, dancing, and going out to eat. Despite this, I have always wondered why my peers choose not to partake in the whirlwind that is Homecoming.

Last year, 1,050 tickets were sold for Homecoming; but with over 1,700 students at Bel Air, many chose not to attend. To discover the reasoning behind skipping out on this event, I asked seniors who have never been to Homecoming in their entire high school careers, “It’s a waste of money, and it doesn’t even support your class,” Elliott points out, “None of my friends go.”

Aaron, another senior explains, “I’m just going to be honest, I don’t have a date and use work as an excuse. I would rather just go on a date with a girl than take her out with a big group.”

Cameron, a junior, who has never gone says, “It’s just too much of a hassle.”

All defendants gave valid arguments of why they chose not to go to Homecoming;  twenty dollars per ticket is expensive, many students can’t miss work, and it’s a lot of work to find a date, clothing, and group to go with. These students also explained that they don’t participate in any of the other Homecoming activities like buying roses and spirit week.

“On a scale of one to ten,” says Aaron, “I probably have school spirit of one.”

Attempting to get another perspective, I asked a sophomore who went freshman year but doesn’t plan to attend again. “I just found it boring,” Joy says, “It’s just barefoot people dancing on plastic and a remix of Gangnam Style playing for seven minutes.”

Another reason to not attend Homecoming may be past bad experiences, as many teachers at Bel Air have explained to us.

English teacher, Mrs. Orth tells the Bellarion, “My senior year I went to Homecoming and two girls got in a fight, and one took off her shoe to throw it at the other girl, but missed. The shoe hit me in the back of the head and I bled so much I had to leave the dance.”

Mrs. McDonough, who has been greatly involved in Homecomings in the past said, “One year, a senior had her dress split the second she handed me her ticket, so she had to wear her gym uniform the whole time so she wouldn’t have to leave the dance.”

So what do these students do while we’re all dancing the night away?

Elliot explains, “I hang out alone because all my friends are at Homecoming.”

Cameron says the exact opposite, “I go out with a few friends somewhere else. Very few of my friends go to Homecoming.”

Joy has other plans for the night of Homecoming says, “My church is having a lock-in so I’ll be playing laser tag with my buddies that night.”

A senior who has opted out of Homecoming in the past said, “All my friends and I just hung out that night. We didn’t have a spectacular time [at Homecoming] in the past, so we figured not to spend all that money when we can have a good time on our own.”

We all know the happenings of Homecoming, but few of us pause to understand why our other friends aren’t joining us that night. Some choose to stay at home alone because they can’t find a date, others may have had bad past experiences, or they might be participating in a game of laser tag. Although I’ve heard a lot of reasons to not go, nothing surpasses the opportunity to have my parents buy me a fancy dress that I’ll never wear again. Except, maybe, a shoe to the head.