egarrard
10-10-2004, 10:26 PM
http://www.bendbulletin.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=14601
Girls are buying gowns, spirit week is here and last spring's "no freak dance" rules are back — sort of.
At Summit High, Saturday night kicked off homecoming season for Bend-La Pine schools. The Summit administration planned to maintain its course and forbid sexually-charged dirty dancing known as freak dancing.
A sign of dance expectations hanging on the school's main office door stated: "Dancing that simulates sex or is graphically sexual in nature will not be allowed."
This is no surprise to students, although not necessarily a welcome one, after last spring's upheaval over freak dancing. Bend High administrators' decision in March to shut down a dance early due to what was termed inappropriate dancing sparked a communitywide debate over how students dance at school functions. In April, Summit High canceled a dance, an event at which some students supposedly planned to freak dance in defiance of dance rules.
The next month students from multiple high schools addressed the school board and reported that it was not much of an issue at proms.
A few students were asked to leave a dance in the beginning of the school year in part because they were freak dancing, said Principal Lynn Baker. Throughout the past weeks teachers have discussed the dance issue with their students, he said, and it's been a topic for student goverment members.
But the days before the dance were not a time of pounding home the message, the principal said.
"We haven't hit it hard this week, because we've been talking about it for a month and the kids know," he said.
Time may have passed since last spring, but at least several students at Summit still insist that freak dancing just isn't a big deal.
"They're taking it to an extreme saying we're having sex on the dance floor," said Megan Hasenoehrl, 18, a senior sitting in the commons Friday morning.
Megan said she did plan on going to Saturday's dance. How she'll get footloose will depend on the music. Is she afraid to freak?
"Yeah, I don't want to get kicked out," Megan said. Yet even with the rules, she knows some people will freak dance anyhow.
"You can't stop it," she said. "People don't know how to dance other than that."
The problem with restricting freak dancing is that it means some students will just go find entertainment elsewhere like at parties, said Matt Moore, 17, a senior.
"Instead of doing borderline monitored activities they're going to be doing illegal activities by themselves," he said.
Girls are buying gowns, spirit week is here and last spring's "no freak dance" rules are back — sort of.
At Summit High, Saturday night kicked off homecoming season for Bend-La Pine schools. The Summit administration planned to maintain its course and forbid sexually-charged dirty dancing known as freak dancing.
A sign of dance expectations hanging on the school's main office door stated: "Dancing that simulates sex or is graphically sexual in nature will not be allowed."
This is no surprise to students, although not necessarily a welcome one, after last spring's upheaval over freak dancing. Bend High administrators' decision in March to shut down a dance early due to what was termed inappropriate dancing sparked a communitywide debate over how students dance at school functions. In April, Summit High canceled a dance, an event at which some students supposedly planned to freak dance in defiance of dance rules.
The next month students from multiple high schools addressed the school board and reported that it was not much of an issue at proms.
A few students were asked to leave a dance in the beginning of the school year in part because they were freak dancing, said Principal Lynn Baker. Throughout the past weeks teachers have discussed the dance issue with their students, he said, and it's been a topic for student goverment members.
But the days before the dance were not a time of pounding home the message, the principal said.
"We haven't hit it hard this week, because we've been talking about it for a month and the kids know," he said.
Time may have passed since last spring, but at least several students at Summit still insist that freak dancing just isn't a big deal.
"They're taking it to an extreme saying we're having sex on the dance floor," said Megan Hasenoehrl, 18, a senior sitting in the commons Friday morning.
Megan said she did plan on going to Saturday's dance. How she'll get footloose will depend on the music. Is she afraid to freak?
"Yeah, I don't want to get kicked out," Megan said. Yet even with the rules, she knows some people will freak dance anyhow.
"You can't stop it," she said. "People don't know how to dance other than that."
The problem with restricting freak dancing is that it means some students will just go find entertainment elsewhere like at parties, said Matt Moore, 17, a senior.
"Instead of doing borderline monitored activities they're going to be doing illegal activities by themselves," he said.