Thanks for everyone's help. Our President and teacher liasion were agreeing with the principal on this and making me seem like the crazy one so I just needed "outside" opinions!

Siblings will be allowed we just can't call it a Family Dance we have to call it a Family Fun Night!

Thanks again. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Honestly? If I were going to call it a Family Night then I would make sure it was something appropriate for the whole family. I would make sure it didn't exclude a particular age group, especially when it could be a problem if they attended. I would find something that would include the whole family, even if it meant doing something different. The other option would be to offer something else for the older kids while the younger ones are at the dance. Could you set up another room with a tv/vcr and a movie with popcorn and cokes or something like that? Then you could advertise the dance and mention that the alternate activity is available for older siblings. Or what about planning the dance on a night when there are other things going on at the older schools, like a basketball game or a dance for the higher grades?

Like someone else mentioned, you may not even have older siblings that want to come but I certainly wouldn't want them to feel unwelcome.

Carrie

I think it would be rotten to tell families that older kids couldn't attend. Do you have jobs some of the older kids could do to free up your parent volunteers (ex: sell pop) and give the older kids something to do? It's been my experience that older kids often don't want to come to an elementary school party (we've had sock hops too at our Gr2-5 school) even if they are not specifically excluded.

I absolutely agree with you that a family night should include the whole family. We have always allowed the entire family come to our family events. Sometimes you have to remind the parents though that they cannot just drop their kids off.

When your group hosts a family fun night - Are older siblings allowed? Our school is K-5 and we are planning a sock-hop dance in March. The principal doesn't want older siblings,that are in junior high and high school, allowed at the dance. My opinion is that if you are having a family night, the whole family should be invited. Just curious to how other groups handle this situation. Thank you in advance for your opinions.