|
Chicago Professional Prom & School Dance
Disc Jockeys (DJs)
Saturday, December 3, 2005
Schools are
out of step on 'freak' fad
 By
ROBERT L.
JAMIESON Jr.
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER COLUMNIST
The freakiest thing about freak dancing and kids is the
adults who want to ban the dance form outright.
There are no thoughtful discussions taking place. Nor are
good-faith efforts being made to wade through the hysteria.
The reaction has become a closed case of no ifs, ands or
buts to butts that bop, shimmy and bounce as torsos writhe to
a hip-hop beat.
Scrub public school dances clean of this libidinal
suggestiveness, and hormone-raging kids won't rush home and
rip off their clothes. That'll make parents everywhere sleep
easier.
| Yeah, right. Naïve thinking wins out
when school districts act in such a knee-jerk fashion,
pulling the plug on a dance form considered to be lewd or
sexually simulating. Officials in the Seattle Public
Schools are looking to fall into this mind-numbing
Puritanism by putting in place tough rules against a form
of pelvic motion. The district wants students to dance
"according to what reasonable people would consider
appropriate."
Hmmm ...
Some "reasonable people" consider freak dancing to be the
tango of today, just the way kids socialize. They say uptight
folks should stop their whining and let this generation of
youths embrace the craze the way their parents and
grandparents bopped to rock 'n' roll when it was "the devil's
music."
Other "reasonable people" say freak dancing crosses the
line of decency, putting kids too close together. People tend
to recall their first slow dance and their first kiss but who
romantically reminisces over their first freak? Also,
students who may not want strangers rubbing up against them
shouldn't be made to feel uncomfortable at a school function,
critics point out.
There are merits on all sides of the debate. From where I
sit, freak dancing is a fast way to throw out a hip. What
troubles me most is how the Seattle schools are ignoring an
opportunity for a "teaching moment."
Public schools are supposed to prepare young students in
ways to deal with issues far thornier than freak dancing.
Good approaches to problem solving will last long after this
dance fad fades.
So far, though, the message being sent to kids is this: If
something makes people uncomfortable, just ban it.
Where are the constructive public discussions that get at
the heart of freak dancing? Where are the efforts to bring
together student leaders, parents and teachers to set up
freak dancing rules of etiquette that everyone can agree on
without taking the fun out of school dances? Where's the show
of respect for youths?
|
|
|
These questions are going unanswered. Meanwhile, young
people are becoming confused as they soak up cultural cues
from MTV and Paris Hilton that tell them it's OK to get their
freak on. This confusion grows into resentment when school
officials respond by hurling down a moral bolt of lightning.
Thou Shall Not Freak.
If the public schools want to show leadership in this
matter, officials could frame it in a way that makes students
see freak dancing in a different light.
School assemblies, where experts talk about the
objectification of women in our hypersexual society, might
open eyes. What may look on the surface like fun and carefree
dancing may have deeper impacts, as people on the dance floor
become pleasure objects to be rubbed on, bent over or front
piggybacked.
The district could ask students how they would feel if
they saw their siblings, teachers or -- heaven forbid --
parents bumping and grinding like orgiastic chimps. The kids
might be grossed out. They might think twice.
The district could even talk about the type of hip-hop
music that feeds the frenzy. People go bonkers when they hear
certain songs. For this reason, some districts have opted to
use "clean hip-hop" at dances to reduce the freakiness.
The point is that without meaningful dialogue, the kind of
constructive efforts occurring elsewhere won't happen here.
Students in Michigan proposed a quiz on dance-floor
conduct that students must pass to get into dances. In
Pennsylvania, young people worked with school officials to
write dance rules that said no straddling or lying down. Some
kids have adopted a mantra: "Dance face-to-face and leave
some space."
Young people are smart. If we give them a hand -- and a
bit of knowledge -- they can lead adults to a reasonable
solution.
Lowering a freak dance ban with no attempt to explore
other alternatives will only alienate students. They'll stop
going to dances. They'll go elsewhere, far away from adult
supervision, and get into stuff that really gives grown-ups
reasons to freak out.
|
Information
