Middle School Requires Kids to Dance with Anyone W... - Page 8

Isobel Archer · ‎04-04-2015

@MalteseMomma wrote:
@JaneMarple wrote:
Slow dancing in Middle School?

I am 82 yrs old and we danced at that age in Phys Ed wayyyyy back then.

I never had a problem like this myself but maybe some of my friends did,I never heard that.....

We just danced that was it. We did not think about who we were dancing with......

I am surprised they are still doing this program in school............lol

edited to add.........

After reading further and reading this kid wants to " murder " whatever............WHY is this kid even in school? He needs, MENTAL HELP!!!!!

I cannot find where the boy said he wanted to "murder" anyone. Where are you getting this?

I did see where the mother said she'd heard he wanted to "rape dolphins" but then said it didn't matter if that was actually true or mean rumors. To her it was irrelevant if fit was true as long as it justified her daughter dismissing him.

You know we claim to be against bullying and we are always so surprised when a kid finds a gun and kills fellow students who have ostracisized him, humiliated him, and yes, bullied him. Yet here, we defend the practice.

There is nothing kids want more in school than to fit in - why do we always rise to the defense of the mean kids who have "rights" to exclude?

The mother didn't want her daughter "wrapped in rape culture" - seriously - social dancing is now rape???

Oh yes, I am quite sure that by now this boy does indeed need mental health counseling. And smug, socially superior, mother and daughter can only pray he gets it.

JJsMom · ‎03-10-2010

@Porcelain wrote:
@suzyQ3 wrote:
Let's just say that I went to junior high school -- right there you know I'm not a youngster -- back in the dinasaur age.

We slowed danced in school and at parties. Fortunately, I never witnessed this particular problem.
It was junior high for me too. I gradually learned to refer to it as middle school because I noticed that the younguns these days didn't know what I was talking about when used the terms interchangably. It was like me assuming they knew who the Rolling Stones were.

I think it varies by region or district. We still call it junior high here.

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. ~ Desmond Tutu

occasionalrain · ‎03-10-2010

I see no reason to hurt someone, reject them without good cause. This was a few minute dance, not worth being unkind. This daughter is being brought up thinking only of herself and lacking empathy.

I wonder if this boy were black and his mother went online claiming the girl who wouldn't dance with him was racist would the responses be different.

RainCityWoman · ‎06-16-2015

@lovescats wrote:
My response is maybe middle school children should just be doing line dancing or square dancing and only if they want to. Otherwise they can just sit on the sidelines.

You know, that's exactly the kind of dancing we did when I was that age. We called them mixers, and we had a teacher who taught dancing to adult groups, so we got a variety of folk dances from various countries and of course we got the history of square dancing in the US. Nobody worried about having to ask anyone to dance. We were all involved in it and we traded partners as the dance proceeded. We danced with EVERYONE!

As a teacher, I saw things change as the years went by. The sad thing was only a small percentage of kids danced at our evening dances, mostly because they felt inadequate and inept, shy to ask someone, or fearful they would be made fun of by the good dancers. That was sad, to me.

RedTop · ‎09-01-2010

My teacher daughter chaperoned a high school dance last night.

I asked her about the dancing, and the standard practice at their school dances is to limit slow dancing, and encourage more group, and line dancing. Many of the teachers are on the dance floor as well.

My daughters special ed students love line dancing!

Mominohio · ‎08-08-2010

Add me to the list of people who think this whole thing is way overboard. No means no, and no one should have to be in physical contact of any kind with someone they don't wish to. I have to wonder if same sex requests would have to be honored or if they would be actually banned in this practice.

I can't believe a school district thought they could get away with this kind of thing in the wake of the "Me Too" movement. But it is Utah, and I wonder how much the religious climate in that town has to do with the rules they establish for the school system.

Mominohio · ‎08-08-2010

@Isobel Archer wrote:
Dancing is not dating - nor is it sex - at least it shouldn't be. If the "slow dancing" is more than social dancing,then THAT is the problem here.

I don't see any problem with dancing with whoever asks - boy or girl. Making this into a - she should have the "right" to reject "unwanted touching" is ridiculous.

And, as noted, the mother is beyond the pale in her public criticism of this boy.

I have to wonder if the policy was well stated before the dances, not only to the students, but at that age, parents should have been informed prior as well, in order to make an informed decision as to whether you wanted your child to participate in something like that, and to discuss with your child ahead of time what scenarios might happen (like you might be asked to dance with someone you don't like or don't feel comfortable with, and are you willling to do that).

As for the mom, yeah, calling things out on social media like this, where minor kids are involved can be quite damaging. I can say that if I was put off by the principal and the school board, I'd feel the need to go public with the whole thing. She needed to keep some of the more personal things to herself (like the dolphins statement) and just deal with it on the facts of children being forced to have unwanted physical contact at a social event sponsored by the school.

Isobel Archer · ‎04-04-2015

@Mominohio wrote:
@Isobel Archer wrote:
Dancing is not dating - nor is it sex - at least it shouldn't be. If the "slow dancing" is more than social dancing,then THAT is the problem here.

I don't see any problem with dancing with whoever asks - boy or girl. Making this into a - she should have the "right" to reject "unwanted touching" is ridiculous.

And, as noted, the mother is beyond the pale in her public criticism of this boy.

I have to wonder if the policy was well stated before the dances, not only to the students, but at that age, parents should have been informed prior as well, in order to make an informed decision as to whether you wanted your child to participate in something like that, and to discuss with your child ahead of time what scenarios might happen (like you might be asked to dance with someone you don't like or don't feel comfortable with, and are you willling to do that).

As for the mom, yeah, calling things out on social media like this, where minor kids are involved can be quite damaging. I can say that if I was put off by the principal and the school board, I'd feel the need to go public with the whole thing. She needed to keep some of the more personal things to herself (like the dolphins statement) and just deal with it on the facts of children being forced to have unwanted physical contact at a social event sponsored by the school.

I just find it amazing that we - as a society - are fine with drag queen story hours for small children, sex ed that includes explaining oral and other sex and handing out condoms in middle school, and now I see we are teaching first graders to consider whether they might be transgender, not to mention giving puberty blocking drugs to children without any regard for what it might do to their overall health over time.

But OMG engaging in social dancing with someone you don't like is part of being "wrapped in the rape culture."

Lipstickdiva · ‎03-10-2010

@occasionalrain wrote:
This is a school setting where students don't get to choose lab partners, wrestling opponents, team members... If a student chooses to be in a play, they don't get choose who plays opposite. This student had a choice to opt out of the dance just as she could have opted out of a school play.

Curious that no one complained about the boys having to dance with any/all girls who asked them. Do women want equal rights or special rights.

You gotta be kidding me. Why should anyone have to stay home from a school function because they are being forced to dance with someone they don't want to dance with?