A group of 50 parents of Bar Mitzvah and Bas Mitzvah candidates, meeting informally at the request of their rabbis, agreed that the parties held in connection with the religious ceremonies were, in most cases, too sophisticated for the child participants.
The majority of the parents also agreed that the children in this age group were attending too many parties. Most of the parents also indicated their support for eliminating all such social gatherings for seventh and eighth grade children; They agreed unanimously that the number and type of such parties should, as a minimum, be curtailed.
Since the group, consisting of members of the three congregations, met informally, no policy decisions were made. The parties discussed were defined as "boy-girl gatherings, in homes or public facilities, involving social dancing, for seventh and eighth grade public school children."
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
