Dirty Dancing? You Decide

[China]

Principals Freaked Out by Students Dance, Dress

BY DAHLEEN GLANTON

Chicago Tribune

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. - (KRT) - Gaoda McFadden still wonders what all the fuss is about. The way the 16-year-old sees it, the principal overreacted by ending his school's homecoming party early because kids were dancing, well, the way kids dance.

Like many of his friends at Stephenson High School, McFadden sees nothing wrong with bumping and grinding on the dance floor or being sandwiched between two girls with their hips gyrating against him. After all, he said, you can turn on MTV or Black Entertainment Television and see it all day.

"It wasn't at all like what they tried to say. It was juicy," said McFadden, a junior who was present last month when Principal Morcease Beasley abruptly ended the party because of what he called "disgraceful dancing." In teenager talk, "juicy" means exciting.

In an era when sexy music videos and scantily clad pop stars set the standard for many young people, parents and educators across the country are waging what appears to be an uphill battle over values.

Discord over lewd dancing and dress is hardly new, but the goalposts for indecency have shifted radically in recent times. School officials find themselves trying to ban students from sporting gold teeth like rappers and from "freaking," or dancing in ways that explicitly imitate sex. It is a moral challenge in suburban and rural areas where values, as suggested by the 2004 presidential election, have become one of the top issues among millions of Americans.

While each generation pushes the limits, some parents feel that pop culture, fueled by the Internet, Hollywood and cable television, has prodded teenagers further across the line of decency than ever imagined in the 1950s when some wanted to ban Elvis.

These days, some schools are banning certain kinds of dance moves - or canceling dances altogether. Educators are setting strict dress codes as early as elementary school, forbidding girls from wearing skin-bearing outfits such as low-rider jeans, thong underwear and midriff tops and banning attire for boys such as oversized T-shirts and pants that sag, often exposing their backside.

Sandra McGary-Ervin, principal of Sandtown Middle School in Atlanta, said such hip-hop attire, for example, is not only distracting to learning but is potentially dangerous.

"If we were in a crisis and the children had to get out of the building, they couldn't get out quick enough because their pants would trip them up," McGary-Ervin said.

About half of all teenagers between 15 and 19 are sexually active, according to a survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, though statistics show a decline in teenage pregnancy in recent years. Still, parents and educators are alarmed by the sexual content in pop culture and its influence on young people.

Some, however, say modern critics of teen dancing and attire are the equivalent of those in the 1950s who wanted to stop Elvis from shaking his hips.

Charles Haynes disagrees. The senior scholar at the First Amendment Center, an Arlington, Va.-based center that works to protect First Amendment freedoms, said:

"This is a lot different than the `50s. There are now dances with a lot of body contact in ways that imitate sexual practice. Some schools are teaching abstinence, and if they are trying to send the message that sexual activity is something to be taken seriously and that there are emotional and medical implications for young people who engage in it, then they must do something."

Some schools are teaching courses in "character education," Haynes added, and to teach teenagers "about moral issues and character issues in a very powerful way. It is a movement in education that is spreading across the country."

Like many principals, McGary-Ervin has set a dress code at her school. Each morning, she stands at the school's entrance and monitors what the students are wearing: If boys don't have a belt on, she gives them one. If a girl's skirt doesn't reach her fingertips when she extends her arms down her legs, she has to go home and change. Continual violations lead to more serious consequences, including expulsion.

Several school districts have banned "Britney Spears-like" clothing and require students to cover their stomachs and backs and not show their underwear. Others have no district-wide dress code, but allow individual schools to set standards.

Some officials have tried more drastic measures. A Louisiana legislator unsuccessfully this year tried to get a bill passed as part of the state's obscenity law that would have made it illegal for anyone, not just young people, to wear below-the-waist pants.

School officials in Merrillville, Ind., near Chicago banned pink clothing and accessories for middle school and high school students, fearing that gangs had adopted the color. Though there was no evidence of gang activity in the district, officials said they had noticed many students wearing pink, so they issued the ban as a precaution.

In Augusta, Ga., high school students cannot wear large belts, sagging pants or removable gold or platinum bridges that cover most of their front teeth - a style popular with rappers.

"We have things, such as gangs, that spill over into the school, so we have to deal with it," said Richmond County Schools spokeswoman Mechelle Jordan. Getting youngsters to follow rules prepares them for the workforce, too, Jordan added.

One of the biggest challenges school officials have dealt with in recent years is the sexually explicit dancing known as "freaking," where groups of teens pack together on the floor and perform simulated sexual moves. Problems have surfaced in numerous cities, including Anchorage; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Palo Alto, Calif.; and Norristown, Pa.

The school district in Oceanside, Calif., near San Diego won't allow songs that have obscene or sexually demeaning lyrics to be played at school functions.

Some principals have eliminated school dances. In some schools, chaperones walk around with flashlights to make sure the dancing does not go too far. Still, when the dance has ended and the lights come on, some principals say, they have found condoms and underwear on the floor.

A committee of parents, teachers and students at Stephenson High School in Stone Mountain, an affluent town on the outskirts of Atlanta, are devising a policy on the kind of dances that can be done and music that can be played at school events. The group, which also will define what students can wear to prom or homecoming dances, was formed after principal Beasley said he had tried for three years to get students to conform.

"The student dancing is immoral and reflective of much that is wrong within our society and the base values that are often communicated through our media and that significantly contribute to many of our society's problems," Beasley, who also is a minister, said in an e-mail to parents.

Murray Forman, a professor of communication studies at Northeastern University in Boston, said young people are affected because they are exposed to sexual images continually through the media. He said it is wrong to blame hip-hop music, as some do, for problems that should be addressed at home.

"Hip-hop is part of a media matrix. ... It is part of the culture and young people are very attentive to it," said Forman, who co-edited a collection of hip-hop articles, titled "That's the Joint! The Hip Hop Studies Reader." He said young people are doing more than "consuming the images," adding: "They are not just replicating what they see in the media, they are making it and reinterpreting it wherever they live."

Though the Supreme Court has sided with schools over issues of dress codes involving children under 18, some students are protesting.

In Purcellville, Va., students at Loudoun Valley High School circulated a petition claiming that the board's decision to ban dancing violated their First Amendment right of free speech. In some cities, students have held alternative parties to protest a dance ban at their high schools.

But the homecoming dance was the first party Zecheiah Martin, 16, attended at Stephenson, and she was surprised at what she saw.

"We were around adults and we should carry ourselves better," said Martin, a 10th-grader. "I didn't know people danced like that at homecoming. It looked like people were having sex."

[Kilmer17]

Freedom of speech and expresion does not exist in a school.

[NASMTrainer]

Somebody go get Kevin Bacon, I see another movie in here.

[big z]

Somebody go get Kevin Bacon, I see another movie in here.

:laugh:

"A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and....yes....a time to get yo freak on....;"

[dks1240]

my brother in law teaches at a PG county school and has had to chaperon (sp?) at dances before. they have had incidents of kids actually having sex out in the middle of the dance floor! it can get pretty dirty (im sure not as bad as having sex) and probably inappropriate at most high school dances.

[DjTj]

Better at school than at some house party where there's only going to be more drugs, alcohol, and sex.

Stopping kids from freaking at Homecoming isn't going to accomplish anything. It's just going to force people to go find less supervised and more dangerous ways to have fun. Like all forms of extremism, being prudes is only going to push more kids to the other extreme.

[China]

Originally posted by DjTj

Better at school than at some house party where there's only going to be more drugs, alcohol, and sex.

Stopping kids from freaking at Homecoming isn't going to accomplish anything. It's just going to force people to go find less supervised and more dangerous ways to have fun. Like all forms of extremism, being prudes is only going to push more kids to the other extreme.

Push them to the other extreme? And what might that be? If you read the whole article you would see that these students were already having sex on the dance floor (they found used condoms on the dance floor after the lights came up).

[Renegade7]

Did anyone catch the part where they banned pink clothing because they thought it was "gang-related"? :rotflmao:

Kids are going to dance that way, can't condon it, but it's going to happen. The whole actual-sex on the dance floor thing, okay now that's something to look into. Reality, square dancing and mess like that are dead. You can give a lot of credit to hip-hop for that one, but it's mostly just teens being teens. You can try and stop them at school from freakin, but they'll just go buck-wild once they get to a party at some kids house. We can't be stopped.

"We don't die, we multiply." :cool:

[TheDiplomat]

Let me give them dancing lessons. I'll cover the following.

l

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V

[Monte51Coleman]

I just wanna watch.

[Renegade7]

Originally posted by Monte51Coleman

I just wanna watch.

:laugh:

[Predicto]

Originally posted by China

Some, however, say modern critics of teen dancing and attire are the equivalent of those in the 1950s who wanted to stop Elvis from shaking his hips.

Charles Haynes disagrees. The senior scholar at the First Amendment Center, an Arlington, Va.-based center that works to protect First Amendment freedoms, said:

"This is a lot different than the `50s. There are now dances with a lot of body contact in ways that imitate sexual practice. Some schools are teaching abstinence, and if they are trying to send the message that sexual activity is something to be taken seriously and that there are emotional and medical implications for young people who engage in it, then they must do something."

Some schools are teaching courses in "character education," Haynes added, and to teach teenagers "about moral issues and character issues in a very powerful way. It is a movement in education that is spreading across the country."

Something is strange about this quote. It is a valid point of view, but I do not think it comes from someone "working to protect First Amendment freedoms." Quite the opposite, actually.

[Destino]

They've been talking about this since the 90's when ths style dance first popped up. Those of us in highschool at the time know that we did the same thing. Big friggin deal. Its the style of dance popular at the moment and there is nothing the old folks can do about it. Just like the generations before had a problem with the way their kids did things and could do nothing about it. Sure you can stop them at school, and all you've gained is a bunch of kids pretending to be more innocent then they are.

Doesn't matter how you dance, sex will always be the intent of young people getting together. Nature tells them to, even if the TV doesn't.

[SkinsHokieFan]

Its because kids can't dance and lack rythym these days which is why they pretty much have sex on the dance floor.

I laugh a lot when I go out at the bad dancing that occurs and the amount of untamed hormones out there.

Homecoming and prom aren't meant to be a place for freakin and dancing like you are trying to bang a chick from behind. Some people just need some class, and should represent themselves better.

Condoms on the floor? My goodness.

I still don't think you can have administrators telling kids how to dance though. Its pretty silly and doesn't hit on the bigger picture

[thito_da_skins_fan]

Originally posted by SkinsHokieFan

Its because kids can't dance and lack rythym these days which is why they pretty much have sex on the dance floor.

Regardless if they know how to dance or not, I doubt that's why they have sex on a dance floor.

My boy banged this chick on a dance floor back in the day. At a club though, not a school dance. That's just crazy.

I haven't had the pleasure of banging a chick on the dance floor yet, but I have done some things this principal definitely wouldn't approve of.

It's 2004. Almost 2005.

Abstinence? :laugh:

I'd love to see this principal at a club. :laugh:

[Ghost of]

And civil society is further corroded.

Sorry, I'll freak a girl as much as the next guy, but not at a ___ing homecoming dance, that's disgusting.

How about keeping your pecker in your pants and not being a damn sex freak at SCHOOL DANCES. Man, I don't see what's so hard about this. I went to the prom with my girlfriend and somehow danced without grinding up on her.

The people defending this really need to think about what they'd want their own children to be doing. Fine, you want your daughter getting banged on the dance floor, go right on.

Some of us will try to be a little more consistent in our standards and maybe, JUST MAYBE, set some kind of example.

STD rates increasing? Check.

Teen pregnancy decreasing but still an issue? Check.

Out-of-control promiscuity AND a related lack of respect for women as anything other than a sexual object?

Check.

[Johnny Punani2]

Originally posted by Skin-N-NY

Somebody go get Kevin Bacon, I see another movie in here.

post of the week....

:rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :notworthy

[SkinsHokieFan]

Originally posted by Ghost of Nibbs McPimpin

And civil society is further corroded.

Sorry, I'll freak a girl as much as the next guy, but not at a ___ing homecoming dance, that's disgusting.

How about keeping your pecker in your pants and not being a damn sex freak at SCHOOL DANCES. Man, I don't see what's so hard about this. I went to the prom with my girlfriend and somehow danced without grinding up on her.

The people defending this really need to think about what they'd want their own children to be doing. Fine, you want your daughter getting banged on the dance floor, go right on.

Some of us will try to be a little more consistent in our standards and maybe, JUST MAYBE, set some kind of example.

I agree with that. I was never grinding on some girl at a school dance. There is a time and place for it.

A club its a whole different story. But I tried to show some class at school

And Thito, yeah I agree with you, I am just saying that since most kids can't dance and have no rythym they just do what is natural to them to do when you are so close to someone of the opposite sex.

Still insane having actual sex at a school dance.

[Henry]

Sure, kids are gonna do what kids are gonna do, but that's a bad reason to refuse to set standards of civil public behaviour. Adults can't 'force' kids to do this or that, but they can provide an example, and condoning lewd behaviour at a school function would be a very bad example to set.

You kids wanna act like that, do it on your own time. But you aren't going to do that in my school. Not while I'm in charge.

It's not the perfect answer but it's the best we got.

[HeavyHitta31]

Im only 19, so I was in HS recently, I really dont see the big deal. These old white stiffs running these schools are too old fashioned and bug the hell outta me.

[Johnny Punani2]

Originally posted by HeavyHitta31

Im only 19, so I was in HS recently, I really dont see the big deal. These old white stiffs running these schools are too old fashioned and bug the hell outta me.

ok, let's get racial now... :doh:

How do you know they were "old white stiffs"? They might be "old black stiffs"...

I would bet if you showed older Black Americans a video tape of bumping and grinding they would think it was lewd as well.

[Ghost of]

JP

Exactly. There's this unspoken assumption, often unfortunately backed by racial homerism(Cosby shook that off though,) that blacks are some type of monolith.

Trust me, my grandparents are as disgusted by this kind of thing as "old, white stiffs."

What happened to us when we have NO sense of decorum or standards of behavior in a public setting? Where can we go but down if we expect none from future generations?

It's like people who show up to court in T-shirts or funerals in jeans(without at least the attempt of a nice shirt if they are poor.) I don't expect men to wear fedoras on bus trips anymore, but we need not embrace every falling or failing standard just because it's the easy road.

People, you ain't ever heard Yoda talk about how the Dark Side is the quick and easy path?

[NASMTrainer]

Originally posted by Johnny Punani

post of the week....

:rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :notworthy

[Henry]

Originally posted by HeavyHitta31

These old white stiffs running these schools are too old fashioned and bug the hell outta me.

HH31, you want to talk like that, you do it on your own time. But you aren't going to do it on this board. Not while I'm in charge.

Save the racial remarks for another board. Got it?

[afkidd]

i don't really understand how you can dance besides getting all up on a girl. maybe it's because i didn't grow up in the 70s and country music. shrug.

having sex on a dirty ass floor is a different story...but if they girl is that slutty, let the man have his fun.