Let us be footloose, middle-schoolers say

[deadparrot]

About 200 students at Hoyt Middle School in Des Moines signed a petition last week to reclaim a right to which they think every middle-schooler is entitled - to bump and grind.

"Grinding, touching - they think it's going to be like stripping," said Emily Brown, vice president of Hoyt's student council. "Kids don't want to do that. They just want to have fun and dance."

Emily, a seventh-grader, said school administrators are trying to dictate how students can dance, and the limits they impose are too harsh. She said some types of dancing are inappropriate, but students should be able to do more than hold hands and touch ankles.

Hoyt Principal Billy Stone said the school has some unwritten rules against moshing, crowd surfing and "erotic" dancing, but most of the limitations are for the students' safety. "We just follow plain, basic school rules. Nothing more, nothing less," Stone said.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060214/NEWS02/602140383/1001/RSS01

[GrumpyGreg]

1. As a grandmother I think I'll stay out of this one !

[rodeodance]

2. the limitations are for the students' safety.!! bump, bump

[Endangered Specie]

3. This gives me lots of hope for the next generation...

:sarcasm:

[shanti]

4. middle school is ROUGH

when my son was in middle school two years ago, they wouldn't allow the opposite sexes to touch each other. but let's put it this way - it didn't stop them from doing what they wanted to do. :eyes:

dancing, shmancing

[The_Casual_Observer]

5. hold hands and touch ankles

I don't ever remember anything about ankles.

[wickerwoman]

6. Who the hell goes to school dances anyway?

When I was in high school every single one was cancelled (including Junior Prom) because they couldn't sell enough tickets.

If they want to bump and grind they can do it at their friend's houses. If they're going to a lame ass school dance they might as well accept that it's going to be lame ass.

[LibDemAlways]

7. At my daughter's middle school the

administration made the decision to allow dances to be for all three grades - 6,7,8. So many 6th graders show up that that the 7th and 8th graders want nothing to do with it and stay home. My daughter went to one dance and I snuck in at the end to take a peek. The kids weren't even dancing. They were roaming the gym in packs.

Middle schoolers have plenty of school rules to abide by. Trying to micro manage how they dance is stupid. If a chaperone sees something inappropriate, deal with it. Otherwise leave the kids alone.

[MissMillie]

8. I chaperoned a few middle school dances this year

and let me tell you, there were maybe 5 kids dancing.... all night long.

Most of the kids just hang out and talk to each other, and of course, there's the covert match-making activities ("go ask Kevin's friend if he'll ask Kevin if he'd be willing to dance w/ me, but make sure Kevin doesn't know that it's me that wants to know....").

VERY little dancing going on at these things.