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'Freaking' Banned - PRINCIPAL SAYS DANCE IS `LIKE PORNOGRAPHY'
The Mercury News ^ | Feb. 20, 2003 | Nicole C. Wong

Posted on 02/20/2003 6:41:41 AM PST by CheneyChick

Students at Palo Alto High are about to learn that ``freaking'' -- a popular way of dancing that simulates sex -- will get them kicked out of school dances.

It's just too nasty, school officials say.

Principal Sandra Pearson plans to tell the school's 1,650 students today that she is banning sexually provocative dance moves in response to suggestions from some parents and students. Critics say the amorphous dance known as freaking is a ``demeaning'' activity that looks like something that would be seen in an X-rated movie rather than at a high school dance.

``Freak dancing, to me, is like pornography,'' Pearson said. ``I may not be able to define it, but I sure know it when I see it.''

The ban puts Palo Alto on par with high schools across the country, from Wilcox High in Santa Clara to Oakland Mills High in Columbia, Md., that are taking steps to foster an atmosphere in which students respect each other, both inside and outside of the classroom. But some observers say the crackdown will be hard to enforce and could spark a backlash that's even harder to control.

Over the past two months, Pearson and the student council have tried to pin down what is appropriate behavior for school dances. They drafted seven rules, including no chewing gum (so the new gym floor won't be ruined) and ``no demeaning or sexually explicit dancing.''

How is the news going over?

Click here for the rest of the story

(Excerpt) Read more at bayarea.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: dirtydancing; pornography; schooldances; students
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It's good to see that this CA principal is taking a stand.
1 posted on 02/20/2003 6:41:41 AM PST by CheneyChick
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To: CheneyChick
Dancing is too much like dancing. End school dances.
2 posted on 02/20/2003 6:46:01 AM PST by Lysander (smoke 'em if ya got 'em)
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To: CheneyChick
I read the article. The comments by the kids were very telling. "What's the problem? There are four layers of clothes between us."
3 posted on 02/20/2003 6:46:56 AM PST by truthkeeper
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To: CheneyChick
Attention, Sandra Pearson!
We will pay to move you to Texas!
There are many great schools here that can be recovered by people like you, and we need you!
California is a lost cause.
4 posted on 02/20/2003 6:47:25 AM PST by grobdriver
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To: truthkeeper
I was really surprised to read some of the student comments. I'd hate to be a teenager these days. For those of you who are parents of teens - wow - what a responsibility in raising kids in today's world.

Cheers, CC :)

5 posted on 02/20/2003 6:50:45 AM PST by CheneyChick
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Comment #6 Removed by Moderator

To: truthkeeper
Remember ists a gift and the thought that counts.
7 posted on 02/20/2003 6:54:55 AM PST by Khepera (Do not remove by penalty of law!)
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To: CheneyChick
My daughter goes to a Christian School and they don't allow dancing at all, although most families do not have a problem with it. Instead of a Junior/Senior Prom, they have a Jr/Sr banquet. For years, my dau thought this was just stupid. So last year when she was a Jr she went to a local public school's prom and to her banquet. She was stunned to find that her banquet was far and away more fun. Both cost exactly the same. The fee for the prom went to renting the hall and a large police presence and a few pretzels and soda. Hers included a full dinner and an MC who conducted an evening of entertainment that included solving some kind of a mystery. This year she can't want to go to her banquet and could care less whether or not she goes to a prom.
8 posted on 02/20/2003 6:57:53 AM PST by twigs
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To: CheneyChick
If they can't freak, they can't have fun, advocates say.

I've obviously never had fun.
9 posted on 02/20/2003 6:58:45 AM PST by aardvark1
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To: CheneyChick
From a web page on the waltz:
The waltz was also criticized on moral grounds by those opposed to its closer hold and rapid turning movements. Religious leaders almost unanimously regarded it as vulgar and sinful. Continental court circles held out obstinately against the waltz.
They quote a Times editorial written after a dance that included the waltz:
"We remarked with pain that the indecent foreign dance called the Waltz was introduced (we believe for the first time) at the English court on Friday last ... it is quite sufficient to cast one's eyes on the voluptuous intertwining of the limbs and close compressure on the bodies in their dance, to see that it is indeed far removed from the modest reserve which has hitherto been considered distinctive of English females. So long as this obscene display was confined to prostitutes and adulteresses, we did not think it deserving of notice; but now that it is attempted to be forced on the respectable classes of society by the civil examples of their superiors, we feel it a duty to warn every parent against exposing his daughter to so fatal a contagion."
and an 1866 article in the English magazine Belgravia:
"We who go forth of nights and see without the slightest discomposure our sister and our wife seized on by a strange man and subjected to violent embraces and canterings round a small-sized apartment - the only apparent excuse for such treatment being that is done to the sound of music - can scarcely realize the horror which greeted the introduction of this wicked dance."
These days I hesitate to use French, but, plus ca change...
10 posted on 02/20/2003 7:00:46 AM PST by jejones
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To: jejones
Grinding crotches is a bit different from a waltz.
11 posted on 02/20/2003 7:04:24 AM PST by AppyPappy (Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris.)
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To: CheneyChick
What's the big deal? It's the same thing as the "Twist" but while touching.../sarcasm off
12 posted on 02/20/2003 7:04:41 AM PST by showme_the_Glory
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To: jejones
What's your point?
13 posted on 02/20/2003 7:05:04 AM PST by CheneyChick
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To: AppyPappy
No kidding:

Freaking, however, isn't like the Twist.

``It's different because there are instances when a girl will be on the floor and there will be guys on top of her,'' rising and falling in sync with the song, Pearson explained.

And there are times when a student's head is nuzzled in another's crotch. Or legs are hung around hips as pelvises thrust against each other. Basically, it's anything that looks like sex.

``I don't understand why it's an issue,'' said Blake, 16. ``You have four layers of clothing between you.''

14 posted on 02/20/2003 7:07:43 AM PST by CheneyChick
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To: CheneyChick
They drafted seven rules, including no chewing gum!
15 posted on 02/20/2003 7:10:37 AM PST by TightSqueeze (From the Department of Homeland Security, sponsors of Liberty-Lite, Less Freedom! / Red Tape!)
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To: CheneyChick
Yes, the comments are quite telling

``I don't think it's necessary,'' chimed in her friend Jessie Herzog, also a 15-year-old sophomore. ``It's trying to change it into a middle school dance.''

. I can't even begin to address this one.

16 posted on 02/20/2003 7:11:11 AM PST by FreeTally
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To: twigs
My daughter goes to a Christian School and they don't allow dancing at all, although most families do not have a problem with it. Instead of a Junior/Senior Prom, they have a Jr/Sr banquet.

Exact same scenerio at our house. A year ago, when my daughter was 15 she was invited to a b-day party at a public school attending friend's house. My husband and I drove her and visited with a few parents that were there. They had a disc jockey playing incredibly loud music out by the pool where the party was held. The guests were mostly 14 year old girls. The dancing they were doing was the most vulgar spectacle I've ever witnessed. For example, one young lady (a-hem) was down on the ground, face up, and nearly on all fours. Another gal was straddling her. What they called dancing looking like hunching to me. As soon as my daughter made the rounds of visiting with the hostess and her parents, I told her it was time to go. She agreed. I was appalled that the other parents could quietly stand by and watch this display.

Thank God for Christian schools.

17 posted on 02/20/2003 7:12:02 AM PST by Quilla
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To: Lysander
We were doing pretty much the same thing 45 years ago, only it was called the DB, Dirty Boogie.

Eek! Rock and Roll! Kids! We're all gonna die!

Oh yeah, back then we were all gonna be ruined by "race music" too.

18 posted on 02/20/2003 7:12:56 AM PST by metesky (My retirement fund is holding steady @ $.05 a can.)
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To: CheneyChick
But this one is the most telling:

``They can't put a ban on it,'' said sophomore Blake Wilson. ``If they kick people out, there will be two people left.''

So essentially, this mature mental genious is saying, "How dare we be asked to exhibit some self-control. How could one possibly dance without being sexual with each other".

I pray for our future.

19 posted on 02/20/2003 7:14:01 AM PST by FreeTally
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To: grobdriver
California is a lost cause.

Not any more than Texas being a lost cause.

20 posted on 02/20/2003 7:18:32 AM PST by LisaAnne
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