Teh One Who Knocks
12-19-2011, 04:27 PM
By Catie O'Toole / The Post-Standard
https://p.twimg.com/AhCgnMYCEAASUYZ.jpg
Faced with students grinding — dancing in an overtly sexual-style — at school dances, Skaneateles High School tried several things to stop it.
Students, parents, staff and administrators came up with new rules for dances.
Gym teachers taught dances — waltz, tango, cha-cha, the hustle — for contests at the next dance.
The district tried switching disc jockeys.
But when 400 students got together last winter for the Snow Ball, many students — ninth to 12th graders — were still grinding and dressing inappropriately.
The district tried one more thing — the homecoming dance this September was moved to a larger venue, the gymnasium, to let the kids spread out more.
“Again, they were dancing inappropriately,” said Skaneateles High School Principal Georgette Hoskins.
That was the last straw. The district, after the September dance, has cancelled the high school’s Snow Ball scheduled in February. The junior prom and senior ball are still on, but the principal said she will work closely with students planning those dances.
“We really felt our policies and procedures were not effective,” Hoskins said. “We determined we couldn’t hold another school-wide dance.”
Skaneateles isn’t the only high school in Central New York that has taken steps to control students from grinding or dancing in other sexually suggestive styles. Grinding, however, continues to be a popular style of dance that sets some school administrators on edge.
Fayetteville-Manlius High School made headlines in 2006 when it banned grinding at its dances.
“I think it’s an issue in every high school,” said F-M High School Principal Ray Kilmer. “It’s just how we’re ultimately going to approach and try to mitigate the issue.”
Christian Brothers Academy in 2006 stopped the music and switched to playing oldies at a dance because too many students were grinding.
Fabius-Pompey the following year offered swing dance lessons as an alternative to grinding and the moves were popular at the proms.
CBA tried something similar in 2008, teaching students four line dances. School officials acknowledged it might not eliminate grinding, but they said it offered an acceptable alternative.
In 2006, F-M officials said grinding in its extreme is pornographic and inappropriate for a school setting. The gyrating and “simulated sex” on the dance floor is fueled by the mainstreaming of rap and hip hop music with suggestive lyrics and videos.
Kilmer, who began chaperoning dances as an F-M High School social studies teacher in 2000, said inappropriate dance is always going to be a concern in high schools. “We have to simply communicate our expectations with students and hold them accountable,” he said.
At F-M, students now are given a wristband when they arrive and if they grind, they’re given a warning and the bracelet is removed. If there’s a second infraction, they’re asked to leave, Kilmer said.
“From our point of view, we want students to have fun,” he said. “But at the same time we have to provide an environment which is safe and conducive for all students.”
Kilmer said when students dance very close together it can be difficult to catch every student grinding, but at any time school officials can ask the disc jockey to change the music — even if it’s the middle of a song.
For the most part, students understand where the district is coming from, he said.
Kilmer said he doesn’t think grinding is out of control at F-M now. There are fewer dances than there were several years ago and students are respectful when chaperones intervene, he said.
At Skaneateles High School, the principal said she wants her students to have fun too, but in an appropriate manner.
Hoskins said she has encouraged students to come up with fun activities that they can all enjoy together. Student government leaders are now planning a school-wide event with various activities for around the same time the Snow Ball dance would have been held.
“Right now we’re sticking with the smaller dances,” she said. “... and everybody’s moving forward.”
https://p.twimg.com/AhCgnMYCEAASUYZ.jpg
Faced with students grinding — dancing in an overtly sexual-style — at school dances, Skaneateles High School tried several things to stop it.
Students, parents, staff and administrators came up with new rules for dances.
Gym teachers taught dances — waltz, tango, cha-cha, the hustle — for contests at the next dance.
The district tried switching disc jockeys.
But when 400 students got together last winter for the Snow Ball, many students — ninth to 12th graders — were still grinding and dressing inappropriately.
The district tried one more thing — the homecoming dance this September was moved to a larger venue, the gymnasium, to let the kids spread out more.
“Again, they were dancing inappropriately,” said Skaneateles High School Principal Georgette Hoskins.
That was the last straw. The district, after the September dance, has cancelled the high school’s Snow Ball scheduled in February. The junior prom and senior ball are still on, but the principal said she will work closely with students planning those dances.
“We really felt our policies and procedures were not effective,” Hoskins said. “We determined we couldn’t hold another school-wide dance.”
Skaneateles isn’t the only high school in Central New York that has taken steps to control students from grinding or dancing in other sexually suggestive styles. Grinding, however, continues to be a popular style of dance that sets some school administrators on edge.
Fayetteville-Manlius High School made headlines in 2006 when it banned grinding at its dances.
“I think it’s an issue in every high school,” said F-M High School Principal Ray Kilmer. “It’s just how we’re ultimately going to approach and try to mitigate the issue.”
Christian Brothers Academy in 2006 stopped the music and switched to playing oldies at a dance because too many students were grinding.
Fabius-Pompey the following year offered swing dance lessons as an alternative to grinding and the moves were popular at the proms.
CBA tried something similar in 2008, teaching students four line dances. School officials acknowledged it might not eliminate grinding, but they said it offered an acceptable alternative.
In 2006, F-M officials said grinding in its extreme is pornographic and inappropriate for a school setting. The gyrating and “simulated sex” on the dance floor is fueled by the mainstreaming of rap and hip hop music with suggestive lyrics and videos.
Kilmer, who began chaperoning dances as an F-M High School social studies teacher in 2000, said inappropriate dance is always going to be a concern in high schools. “We have to simply communicate our expectations with students and hold them accountable,” he said.
At F-M, students now are given a wristband when they arrive and if they grind, they’re given a warning and the bracelet is removed. If there’s a second infraction, they’re asked to leave, Kilmer said.
“From our point of view, we want students to have fun,” he said. “But at the same time we have to provide an environment which is safe and conducive for all students.”
Kilmer said when students dance very close together it can be difficult to catch every student grinding, but at any time school officials can ask the disc jockey to change the music — even if it’s the middle of a song.
For the most part, students understand where the district is coming from, he said.
Kilmer said he doesn’t think grinding is out of control at F-M now. There are fewer dances than there were several years ago and students are respectful when chaperones intervene, he said.
At Skaneateles High School, the principal said she wants her students to have fun too, but in an appropriate manner.
Hoskins said she has encouraged students to come up with fun activities that they can all enjoy together. Student government leaders are now planning a school-wide event with various activities for around the same time the Snow Ball dance would have been held.
“Right now we’re sticking with the smaller dances,” she said. “... and everybody’s moving forward.”