District mulls 'grinding' ban for prom

Freaking. Grinding. The Nasty. Whatever you call it, sexually-explicit dance moves are a hot topic for debate at schools across the country.

By Charyn Pfeuffer - MSN Living Editor Jan 25, 2013 8:06PM

Calling Elvis the Pelvis! Many parents, and even some teens, think that dancing at school-sponsored events should involve a little less swiveling hips and a lot more G-rated moves.

It’s not a new trend or topic, but one that schools across the country continue to battle.

In one Wisconsin school district, board members are looking at ways to tame “grinding,” or the style of dancing that generally includes a male student rubbing up behind a female partner while both make a gyrating motion from side to side, before its upcoming prom, reports Waukesha Patch.

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“I had to Google grinding,” Waukesha School Board Member Karin Rajnicek was quoted in the Waukesha Patch. “I prayed actually after I saw what it looked like and what people were doing because I wanted those images out of my head," she said. "We wouldn’t let it happen during the hallway during school, we wouldn’t let it happen at an activity after hours or at an athletic event or any other time.”

At Waukesha School District, there are talks to institute a ban before prom. Students may have to sign a document that forbids sexually-suggestive dancing and attire and agree to possible ejection if they fail to abide.

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At Pacific Hills School in West Hollywood, kids know that if things get too suggestive, their principal will throw on the lights and blast Burt Bacharach or anything William Shatner has recorded.

In 2006, Minnetonka High School in Minnetonka, Minnesota started a “Dance Like Your Grandma’s Watching” campaign, which included a series of awkward but funny videos depicting the “dangers” of grinding.

Other schools have just canceled dances altogether in order to avoid the subject of too sexy dancing.

We all know teens don’t like being told what to do. Case in point: 80 Waukesha School District students signed a petition stating they’d stay home if the ban is enacted.

“I understand there might be 80 kids who wouldn’t come, but that shouldn’t force us to allow the behavior,” Superintendent Todd Gray told Waukesha Patch. “If you can’t do something inappropriate and that means you are not going to come, that’s life. If this is offensive to people and it is not appropriate and it is causing other bad behavior, we should say you don’t get to do it at the dance. That doesn’t preclude other fun things from happening.”

Tell us what you think: Should grinding be banned at high school dances or is this “just what kids do”?

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