They call it "freak dancing" and while it's been around for a few years, this appears to be one of the few times Seattle is behind the trends. It seems freak dancing has hit Seattle and the Seattle School District is not amused.
From the Seattle P-I:
That's "freak dancing," a trend among high schoolers nationwide for more than a half-decade that Seattle Public Schools is now not only taking notice of but trying to stop.
Steve Wilson, the Seattle district's chief academic officer, said at a community meeting at Roosevelt High School Tuesday night that the district was setting a new policy after incidents at Roosevelt and other high schools in which parents had written to complain and students had been disciplined for freak dancing.
Parents and school administrators have raised concerns that such dancing could lead to sexual activity and shouldn't be allowed at school-sanctioned dances attended by students in their early teens.
Wilson encouraged students to continue attending their school dances, but he said those who do must dance "according to what reasonable people would consider appropriate." Such dancing, he said, should not include "lewd," "sexually suggestive" or "sexually simulating" behavior.
For those of you who may not have heard of this type of dancing, it makes the old disco "bump" look absolutely platonic. It's essentially simulating sex (usually the girl bends over and grinds her butt into the boy's pelvis or variations) while on the dance floor. It's lewd and I think it goes a bit too far for teenagers, especially younger ones.
Roosevelt student Julia Pope said she doesn't drink or do drugs, "and I haven't yet contracted an STD through freak dancing."
"It's simply outrageous that they can impose their morals on us," Pope said of school officials and parents.
You may think it outrageous, young lady, but as parents and school officials, it is our job. When you are 18 and on your own, do what you want. You won't catch an STD from it, but later on after the dance, you might -- or wind up pregnant, or both.
I know, when I was a kid, some of the dances were a bit wild and probably outrageous for the time. Maybe they actually were, but mild as they might be compared to freak dancing, there needs to be limits. If we don't do it here, do you have any guess where this goes? Do we really want to go there.
Despite young Miss Pope's outrage, we need to draw a line and say enough or do we wait until they are actually having sex on the dance floor? The old argument "They'll still do it" doesn't wash. Yea, some will, but it's enough to know that they can't do it on school property.
Life is about rules. As much as we like to think it isn't, rules govern us. When we leave the cocoon of High School and/or college, the rules become increasingly more rigid and there are lots more of them. That's life.
One last thought. I'm a parent. I have daughters. I guarantee you that if I ever heard of them doing something like this before they moved out of my house, there would be Hell to pay. How can a parent stand there and watch their daughter do stuff like that? I couldn't -- and I wouldn't, either.
VW
