A case against dancing

[Amelia]

Calif. Principal Bans 'Freak Dancing'

Mon, Jan. 10, 2005

Associated Press

LEMOORE, Calif. - Fed up with students' racy moves, a principal at a California high school has taken the unusual step of canceling the rest of this year's school dances.

Principal Jim Bennett of Lemoore Union High School said he warned students at a winter formal dance last month to either quit dirty dancing or face the possibility of not dancing at all.

But he said the students continued "freak dancing," a form of sexually suggestive dancing that involves grinding the hips and pelvic area.

The ban on dances includes the school's Sadie Hawkins dance in February and the junior and senior proms in the spring, but Bennett said they could be rescheduled if students modify their behavior.

"It's really up to the kids at this point. They have to take some responsibility," Bennett said.

Organizers of the Sadie Hawkins dance, a fund-raiser for the school's Future Farmers of America, are working with Bennett to come up with a series of regulations, which could allow that dance to go on.

One idea is to let students sign a form stating that raunchy dancing will get them kicked out.

Students hope similar regulations could lead to the reinstatement of other dances, particularly the prom.

"Some students save up all year to buy a dress or rent a tuxedo and buy flowers for the prom," said student body president Zohra Lakhani, a 17-year-old senior. "To crush everyone's dreams, it's not fair."

[Pockey]

How else are they supposed to dance? These kids don't know how else to dance, all they know is what they see on mtv or bet, which is booty dancing.

[Neil D]

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How else are they supposed to dance? These kids don't know how else to dance, all they know is what they see on mtv or bet, which is booty dancing.

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Yeah, if they really want to dance, have the school concidered some classes on swing, or salsa? Those can be pretty physcial dancing when you get into it.....

Did I suggest something immoral????

[SandyColorado]

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Yeah, if they really want to dance, have the school concidered some classes on swing, or salsa? Those can be pretty physcial dancing when you get into it.....

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How about square dancing or contra dancing. Those are really physical - without getting physical...

[Bravus]

Contra dancing? Does Ollie North teach that class? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

[SandyColorado]

that would be my assumption. But then I haven't seen Olie at any of the dances that I have attended. Maybe he is in hiding.

[Nicodema]

Even when I was growing up, kids thought square dancing was ... well ... for squares. LOL.

A neat alternative might be line dancing. I know kids were getting into that "electric slide" dance that was popular awhile back ... collecting and/or inventing a few of those could be fun.

[Nicodema]

The thing I keep coming back to is how narrow the margins are for kids these days to have "good clean fun". I remember when I first became a Christian I was 16 and I knew immediately I had to stop getting high, and felt I should no longer listen to secular rock music or go to secular rock concerts. Not sure if that was necessary now or not but it's how I felt then. And I remember thinking there wasn't much to DO at that point because all the stuff I was used to doing was "sinful" -- but then I remembered there were things that were "good clean fun" like going to the movies, playing a game of cards, or going bowling! Little did I dream I'd soon encounter the pen of inspiration -- which I know now was speaking in a wholly different time and context -- issuing edicts against such things. When I first read all the prohibitions I literally thought MAN, what on earth are kids supposed to do for just plain "good clean fun" then??? and thinking WOW, was all this stuff I grew up thinking of as innocent really considered EVIL back then??? It was serious culture shock. What DO (traditional & conservative) SDA kids grow up doing for FUN???

[aldona]

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What DO (traditional & conservative) SDA kids grow up doing for FUN???

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My brother & I grew up in a very conservative, Ellen-White-fearing household...so I think I can answer your question.

We didn't own a TV until I was about 9 years old. Even after that, TV viewing was strictly rationed and supervised - nothing with violence, sex, drugs or crime - lots of documentaries, science and nature shows, and good clean kids' movies like Anne of Green Gables, Tom Sawyer, Pollyanna and the like.

In reality, not watching TV at all until the age of 9 meant I was not accustomed to having it as an "automatic default" setting for recreation and if I had some time to spare it would just not enter my mind to turn on the TV. Much more fun to do something or pick up a book. I'm still like that today - can count the number of hours of TV I watch in a week on one hand, and most of that is documentaries on science, nature, religion or history.

Books were my friends from an early age - I could read before I started kindergarten (something to do with not having a TV?) Once again nothing with violence, crime, occult etc permitted - fiction not completely prohibited but Mom & Dad tried to keep it to classic "quality" literature like the Anne of Green Gables series, Dickens, Mark Twain, Shakespeare, etc, and equivalents in the Polish literary tradition. In reality I was not really that interested in fiction and preferred books on how things work, how the world works, why people do the things they do (sociology, politics, current affairs), and how to do stuff.

Doing things with my hands - gardening (had my own plot from age 7), all the textile crafts (sewing, knitting, crochet, tapestry, hooked rugs, macrame, dye craft, dabbled in a bit of patchwork). Learning to sew by making outfits for all my Barbie dolls. Photography (playing around with a $2 vintage camera found at a second-hand market at age 8-9). Cooking (following mom & grandma around the kitchen, and trying to do what they did, and eventually getting good enough to do it myself). Helping dad and brother build model train set (by arranging the landscape and decorations - little trees, buildings, people, animals).

As I got older (teenager) dreaming about alternative lifestyles, getting more seriously into the organic gardening/ self-sufficient and home-made everything, and generally being a tofu-eating, herbal-tea-sipping, tree-hugging, sandal-wearing green hippie.

Science experiments - on the kitchen table or (if really messy) outside in the yard. Either using chemistry set & microscope, or improvising with materials found around the house.

Playing music (piano, flute). Listening to music. (Dad's collection of classical records). Developing a real passion for classical music and learning about all the different styles and composers by about age 11-12. Occasionally attempting to write my own music. (Unsuccessfully).

Riding my bicycle, by myself or with my brother. Playing with animals. (we always had pets growing up, usually a cat and a dog at any one time - sometimes chickens or a duck).

Outings with parents and sometimes friends - zoo, wildlife parks, museum, art gallery, music concerts, beach, national parks, hikes, picnics.

I thought all of the above stuff was really cool (and so did most of my friends who came over to play or hung out with me) - didn't realize until later on in life that I had been a geek. (But that's OK - I married a man with similar interests and there's nothing we love more than firing up a good science experiment, going for a walk in the national park to look at the kangaroos, or researching ancient literature).

I never recall a dull moment or feeling bored at any time - there was always so many interesting things to do. (not expensive either - mom & dad were not well off, and had to work hard to send my brother & myself to SDA schools, so there was a minimum of expensive gadgetry and a lot of simple improvised home-made entertainment.)

aldona

[Michelle]

Aldona--sounds a like like my growing-up years! We didn't have a TV in the house till I was in or done with high school (though we did go to my uncle's house on Sundays to watch the Denver Broncos play--a rite of passage in a Colorado household!). We did always live in the country (at least sort of) because my parents thought it important for us, so we had horses, cats, dogs, birds, turtles, etc. to keep us occupied. Just wandering around and exploring (which, in a lot of places, you wouldn't want your kids doing nowadays!).

Reading was a big thing in my house as well. I remember hating the fact that our library only allowed 12 books checked out--I'd have 1/2 of them read on the way home! (well, perhaps a slight exaggeration.) We made kites. Learned all kinds of string "cats cradle" games from a book which told of these games from around the world.

Teenagers--we used to have fun going out to Pizza Hut, going bowling, playing games (in our academy, we had "faculty home parties" every couple of months, since it was a boarding academy, and those were usually nothing more than popcorn or pizza and a video or games, but I have vivid memories of Pit and Rook tournaments--and I'm not wanting to argue about what kind of cards you use!), watching videos.

I guess it really depends on what the teenagers are willing to consider. Line dancing, depending on how it's approached, could be viewed as "dorky" or "cool." (considering that it was "cool" when I was in college would lead me to imagine that it's probably "dorky" now!)

As Nico said, there's a thin line between what is "good clean fun" and what isn't. Some of it is, indeed, the SDA "culture."

As a parent looking at the future teenagers in my house I want them to be comfortable bringing friends over and having fun here. I already encourage that to an extent--the kids will come over and play Legos or Tinker-toys and have snacks and have fun. The kids in our apartment blocks range from baby to 13 years old, and we've had all the kids from 5-13 in our house at once--they just all found things to do and had a great time (electronic games, gear games, Tinker toys, Legos, Matchbox/Hot Wheels cars, etc). They also all play together outside with all kinds of interesting and strange imaginative play (the other day the kids were all "grinding" up dried leaves to make "medicine," since in the "old times" that's how medicine was made). Again, that included all from ages 5-12. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that in 5 1/2 years, when I have a teenager, I've laid the groundwork correctly (if that's possible--probably those of you out there with teenagers are laughing at my naivite' (SP?)!).

M

[Nicodema]

I think you and Aldona had wonderful childhoods! Aldona you don't sound "geeky" at all. You sound well-rounded and interesting. My frustration is it's not just cultural -- it's individual -- or maybe it's what culture breeds into the individual? I see kids today just so unmotivated to do ANYTHING, to learn ANYTHING. For example, the clothes for Barbies thing -- I remember making clothes for my Barbies on occasion too -- horrid things, but I tried!! But I was motivated to do that myself, for fun. I didn't NEED to do it. We weren't so poor Mom couldn't buy me an outfit for my Barbies. I just thought it would be fun to make my own. It just seems to me starting with the generation after mine that kids just were not motivated to do things on their own, not motivated internally, out of fun or curiosity, to figure out what made things tick. It troubled me watching this in my own kids and watching it in the kids around them.

[Nicodema]

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Danger! Age showing! (mine)

Any one remember the 'mash potato'!

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Sorry, no, I don't! But I remember the bump and the hustle ... LOL. And there was an other one I can't recall ... I just remember it was around 1977 or thereabouts ...

[Michelle]

Nico--not pointing fingers, just wondering aloud about kids being unmotivated. . . . I think a lot of kids nowadays are given a lot more things than we in previous generations were given (besides books, I didn't have tons of toys, and not many electronic games--we had Merlin and a football and baseball game (handheld)). Nowadays I see kids sitting in front of the TV, or playing hours of video games. Not using their imagination for anything. The phrase "I'm bored" is met with a suggestion or a toy. (again, please don't think I'm pointing fingers, because I've never met you and don't know your kids or parenting style)

How many parents say, okay, if you're bored, find something to do? I mean, it takes imagination and creativity to make clothes for a Barbie! My kids say, I'm bored, and I say, fine, find something to do. I honestly don't hear it more than once a day (unless it's a really nasty day and they can't go outside and are getting cabin fever--then I might step in to help). However, others have heard my kids say that and say to me, oh, you better get them X, Y, or Z to keep them busy. I just kind of roll my eyes.

I wonder about the waning of intellectual curiousity. Might it come from detached parents? Because I think all children are inherently curious about the world around them, but if their questions aren't answered (or parents aren't around for the kids to even ask), perhaps they just quit asking.

I dunno--interesting questions!

M

[cricket]

CoAspen and Nico...I tend to agree with Nico...definitely NOT mid 60s for the bump and the hustle. I remember them and I wasn't around in the mid 60s.