November 11, 2007 1:31 PM
freak dancing at Loudoun Valley High School and elsewhere
From a Los Angeles parent:
Hi,
I just got home from volunteering at my son's Los Angeles high school homecoming, where the room was pitch black, the dj played rap music and wonder of wonders--the kids were freak dancing. The teachers and administrative staff working at the dance seemed resigned to the situation--made impotent attempts to separate the kids, but did nothing do stop it.
I stumbled upon your website while researching how other schools have handled this.
The only thing that scares me about making a ruckus is that if the school makes rules and the kids just go elsewhere to dance, it'll be even worse--what is a good answer to such rationalizations?
Keep up the good work and be proud of your daughter and if you have any advice for an effective tactic to take when going to the school principal--(raising my hand at the breakfast with the principal meeting on thursday and politely asking why we stand for this? scheduling a private appointment to discuss it?), please let me know.
Sincerely,
Patti
sigh.
I've been avoiding this, but guess now's as good a time as any to say that the outcome of the 2003 battle in Loudoun County over freak dancing - with the institution of rules and regulations regarding appropriate dances and behavior at school dances - may not have been as successful as it originally seemed.
Here in Loudoun, students and parents are now required to sign a contract agreeing to these rules prior to attending dances. I don't know how this is working in other schools, but at Loudoun Valley High School, there has been some hypocrisy on the part of adults in charge, who are indeed allowing - and through the choice of atmosphere encouraging - behavior at the dances that should not be acceptable at a public school dance.
(Please note that how people conduct themselves in clubs or private parties is one thing, but public school dances by definition should not allow behavior that would not be tolerated during the school day.)
My daughter is a senior at LVHS this year and attends the dances only because they have basically decided to handle/not handle the situation by holding two distinct dances in two gyms with two different deejays. One gym is very much darker and the freak dancers go there.
They say the dance has to be held in two gyms because of crowded conditions at the school. Yet the darkness of the one gym seems to have become a signal for the freak dancers that this is their place. According to kids I've talked to, the chaperones do not interfere.
So currently, regardless of the official position, freak dancing is tolerated at Loudoun Valley High School.
Maddy wouldn't go to the homecoming dance this year because of it. This is what I meant when I wrote four years ago of kids being disenfranchised from school dances because of the inappropriate behavior condoned by adults in charge. Her ninth grade friends who went to their first high school Homecoming dance in October were shocked by what they describe as "sex with your clothes on" - well with the exception of those who weren't shocked because they made a choice to be part of that scene themselves. How sad that public school should contribute in any way to their corruption!
Here's what I wrote back to Patti:
In our county, overtures to school administration were ineffectual.I wrote a column for our local newspaper - but if you do that be prepared to have a lot of people mad at you :)
A delegation of kids and parents went to our school board to describe the problem and ask for help. Their point was that kids were being disenfranchised from the dances because of the coarse behavior - encouraged by the dark atmosphere and choice of music.
Eventually the county came up with a policy and a contract which kids and parents had to sign in advance or not be admitted to the dance.
However, carrying out the policy and enforcing the contractual obligations varies from school to school. At my daughters' school, there remains a complicit agreement that this dancing is tolerated as the dance is conducted now in two gyms with lights up in one and lights down in the other. Guess where the freak dancers go? Guess where the chaperones do not go?
Shame on the school for the message this sends the kids.
I'll blog and see if anyone else has any ideas.
Barbara
Posted in Loudoun County, Public schools, Teens and Tweens | Permalink
Comments
Unfortunately the problem isn't the dancing itself...the dancing is a result of the music being played. Usually I would advocate just letting kids be--teens doing the "Twist" in the 50s caused an uproar and that is hardly offensive by today's standards. However, the dancing I've seen is pretty ridiculous. The problem really just stems from the music.
I think it would be a lot better for these teens if, instead of having DJs, they allowed student or local bands to play. I think more teens would attend and less would feel so isolated because of the dancing.
Posted by: Pam | November 11, 2007 2:30 PM
Okay, now I feel really out of it...what the heck is freak dancing?
Posted by: Barb | November 11, 2007 5:21 PM
Just try searching "Freak Dancing" on YouTube...be prepared for what you may see, though...
Posted by: Pam | November 12, 2007 2:43 PM
My sister, in Washington State, told me this goes on at her daughter's school. My poor niece spent the whole dance pressed up against the wall, to get as far away as she could, and now says she will NEVER attend another dance.
Our Sissy went to homecoming this year, and as she has downs, I was asked to accompany her. (how many moms get to go on their daughter's first date?) I saw nothing out of line going on, but I was busy watching the cutest couple in the room, so I may have missed it.:)
Posted by: wanderingrose | November 12, 2007 11:50 PM
Here's a thought:
Have gym classes teach social dance so kids actually know how to swing, waltz, foxtrot...ect. So instead of hip-hop music real music may be played at the dances, and kids will be able to actually dance instead of what ever they do now. I'll guarantee that they'll even have more fun. Plus it is a good way to teach boys how to be men and treat the ladies respectfully.
Posted by: Joseph | November 13, 2007 2:24 PM
Actually, although the Twist (and similar other 50s dance crazes) started out as part of the rebellious rock and roll culture, it caught on with adults not long after when celebrities began doing it. It soon spawned spin-offs like the Peppermint Twist and another 50s dance craze, the Mashed Potato, spawned a spin-off that sounded a lot like the Happy Organ called Hot Pastrami. By this point in the 50s, rock and roll had become accepted as part of mainstream culture, and some older teens that were part of the original early and middle 50s scene hated how commercial it had become with stuff like the Twist craze, all the girl groups, and surf music (the latter of which flourished through the early 60s).
Unfortunately, after the early 60s once the British Invasion hit, the days of innocent, fun rock and roll were gone for good (save for a brief resurgance in the late 60s with bubblegum rock). It kinda gets me thinking that it's both the dancing and the music that's a problem nowadays.
If you're wondering how I found the blog since I may seem out of place here, I googled 50s dance craze and found this.
Posted by: Wolfman | April 11, 2011 8:15 AM
