Yorba Linda High School’s winter formal took place February 25, 2017, and seeing as it had been a dance many students had taken it upon themselves to ask a fellow student to go with them. Most commonly, these students would ask posters and signs saying puns and a simple question on the front; would you go to formal with me? However, in some cases students have been known to take it too far by bringing in posters with rude or in some cases offensive posters, begging the question as to what is too far to put on these posters?

The fad of asking people to dances with these “proposals” has come around these past few years and is, therefore, a quite new idea that has not had strict rules cemented in about what is appropriate and what is crossing the line. For example, this year a senior that attends Yorba Linda High School asked a fellow senior to winter formal through one of these poster proposals, however the way he had asked brought some controversy throughout the school with many students and staff debating on whether the way he had asked was appropriate. The senior had asked his date dressed in middle eastern clothing while his poster read, “Let’s blow it up at winter formal.” Though some say that this would be an inappropriate way to ask another student and would be crossing the line, many oppose.

Several of the opposers explain how the entire proposal had been a blatant joke and any student or staff who saw the poster would have noticed due to the many other joke posters that various students use to ask others. Ashley Payne (9) believes, “If no one was offended and clearly saw it as a joke, then I feel there was nothing wrong with the way he had asked.” Also, though what he had written on his poster and worn was not the most safest thing from a literal standpoint, the poster was obviously intended to be a joke that meant no ill will. The entire situation had been taken out of proportion due to as simply miscommunication and misunderstanding, which can somewhat reflect on the idea that today’s society is much more sensitive, rightfully so sometimes, than the previous ones before it. However, though this may sometimes be necessary and wanted, in situations such as this most students feel as though the entire circumstance had been overreacted.

This simple, obvious pun with no harm meant by it had become overstated and unnecessarily controversial. Though there is a limit and a line that can be crossed while asking others to dances through these poster proposals, situations such as the one with this particular senior would not be classified under that category due to its undisguised usage of a joke and pun that meant no controversy or ill-use behind it.