Are high school dances a thing of the past? Here's what some New Jersey students and a psychologist think.
Editor's note 11/18/25: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Ambrozy's name.
One New Jersey high school canceled its homecoming dance due to low interest among students.
"No one is gonna be there"
It appears students at Wall Township High School aren't interested in dancing the night away.
"No one is gonna be there. Like, it's not gonna be fun or anything," senior Joey Ambrozy said.
Ambrozy said he didn't get a ticket to Saturday's homecoming dance, because his friends didn't. Earlier this week, Kevin Davis, the school's principal, sent out a note saying the dance was canceled due to low ticket sales and limited student interest. Davis didn't respond to CBS News New York's requests for comment Friday, but the update had local residents talking on social media, speculating that the kids would rather be on their phones.
"It's true, to be honest. Like you look around and everyone is on their phone 24/7," Ambrozy said.
Wall Township High School did have a traditional homecoming court and played their homecoming football game against Manalapan, winning 25-22.
Senior Maddie Peterson was on this year's court. She said not to judge too quickly, adding she thought the dance wasn't promoted enough.
"No, I definitely think people want to socialize," Peterson said.
"Smaller, more informal groups -- that's where they're feeling more comfortable"
Drawing from what he hears from his teenage clients, psychologist Matthew Strobel says he's not surprised the high schoolers weren't interested, adding social anxiety is still more prevalent in a post-COVID world.
"Kids are incredibly over-programmed at this point in time," Strobel said. "Smaller, more informal groups -- that's where they're feeling more comfortable. There's less pressure in those groups. I think a lot of that has to do with social media influence."
Wall Township High senior Elizabeth Byrnes said she still wants to see school dances take place, but at a certain point, social exhaustion kicked in.
"We do enjoy it, but once it hits like three hours, we're kind of like, 'Okay, I want go home. I'm tired,'" Byrnes said.
Strobel says maybe dances aren't the way to go for schools, and that maybe surveying students on another social gathering idea could help.
"Social connectedness is a really important thing. It's a huge skill for teens to develop. It's a life skill," Strobel said. "But we have to figure out where they're at and how to get them there. If a school dance isn't what they want, what could it be?"
