Posted on 01/19/2006 7:45:43 AM PST by SmithL
Foothill High School will have a zero tolerance for "freak dancing" -- a style in which participants grind their hips together in a manner some say simulates sex -- school officials said Wednesday.
Those caught "freaking" at school dances will be asked to leave and not allowed to attend future dances, said vice principal Matt Campbell, who handles student activities.
"If you're going to simulate a sexual act then no, you're not going to be able to attend a Foothill dance," Campbell said at a meeting held Wednesday evening to address the issue.
He said there will be no warnings for violators, as the students have known it is not allowed. Those caught doing the dance were previously told to stop and also separated for a cooling off period. Some students have been asked to leave.
About 90 people attended the meeting, mostly parents.
"I don't want to send my kids to something where they will have a substitute for sex," said Jane Murphy, whose son attends the school. She said other parents have said their daughters don't attend dances because of such behavior. "They don't feel the dances are respectful to girls."
However, there were also many calls, mainly from students, not to overreact.
Leah Kendall, a Foothill senior, said that while such dancing can become objectionable, the majority of it isn't. She said strict enforcement could ruin the atmosphere of such events.
"If we start taking away the fun ... there will be nothing to look forward to," said Kendall, noting that the salsa and tango were also seen as being too sexy.
She said music videos are more sexual than what goes on at dances, and others said parents need to talk to their children about what they see in popular entertainment.
Principal Kevin Johnson said what goes on in clubs and in a school setting are different.
"The reality is there's a time and place for everything," Johnson said. "But the reality is school isn't the time and place for that kind of dancing."
Some students said such dancing will continue.
Seniors Sean Baltierra and Jeremy Carbajal, hanging out after school at Stoneridge Mall, said when the dancers get surrounded by other participants it will be impossible to police what is happening in "the core."
"There's nothing they can do to stop it," said Carbajal. He said that is the only way he knows how to dance to the music played, mainly hip-hop, and said it is actually easier than dancing separated from a girl. "When you don't know where a girl's going, it throws you off."
Freak dancing, or grinding, has been around for several years, but continues to cause issues for school administrators. A search of U.S. news stories on freak dancing turns up hundreds written in the past year, most about districts trying to deal with what they see as a growing problem.
In December, in Lewiston, Idaho, the city dropped its 60-year tradition of post-game teen dances because of concerns over physical contact and simulated sex on the dance floor. In Pennsylvania, students in one district reportedly wrote dance rules that ban lying on the ground and straddling a dance partner.
Corine Fanene, mother of a freshman girl at Foothill, said that after she wrote a letter to administrators complaining about what she saw at a Dec. 16 dance, she was told to help find parents to serve as chaperones. She revised the letter and sent it to parents. Although it was not her intention, the letter was circulated and also appeared on a popular Web site.
School officials Wednesday asked for more parent chaperones and said they will be more strict about dress codes, requiring the same standards at dances as for the classroom.
I'm glad my kids are grown.
Oh yeah... gotta love it when 8 year olds are doing freak dancing in the middle of the local Christmas parade...
Whooa, Momma!
She's a super freak, super freak
She's super-freaky. YOW!
But not THAT much.
Hm. I went to every dance in middle school, and I never once mashed my pelvis against any girl I was dancing with. In fact, I sometimes kept an extra space between, because I'd be embarrassed as h--l if the girl bumped into a tent. But anyway, I looked forward to those dances, without a single simulated sex act. Is this Kendall guy on drugs or something?
Ummmm...as opposed to??
No, that is enough Back for an entire legion of Babies.
But some other brothers could deny that.
It was banned at my son's high school last spring before the prom. They had to sign a paper that said they would behave on the dance floor. Freak dancing involves the boy coming up behind the girl and grinding into her backside. I had always wondered why my son didn't go to the dances at the school. It turns out that this type of dancing had been popular for a couple of years and many kids stayed away because of it. At a crosstown high school two girls had been banned from dances when their dresses 'fell off their shoulders' and they flashed their breasts. The high school experience sure has changed! Last spring's prom was fun for all with no freak dancing.
Damn it, martin!!!!
But they cannot lie.
Of course, if it involved boys grinding their pelvises against the butts of other boys. . . it would likely not only be permitted. . .but encouraged. . .
"Grinding" (I've never heard it called "freaking", but not surprised) has been done for at least a decade at "clubs". I don't mind it per se, but it's totally inappropriate for school.
It's kind of fun in a way (well, at least the simple, basic version which is nothing much more than spooning while dancing), but I'm not very comfortable doing that w/any1 but my relatives (you can stack up so it's like a very close conga line - girls do this together too) or (now) my husband, for obvious reasons.
But it wouldn't bother me 1 bit if it was banned everywhere, including for us "adults". ;-)
This is true. At BCR, girls get surrounded and raped and the cops can't break thru the crowd to get to the girls.
Heh. ;^)
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