Putting Baby in a Corner This Prom Season

Today's D&C reports that local high schools are making an extra effort this prom season, including cancelling dances, to curb lewd dancing among students.  The article is too long to quote at length, but here's the gist.

Heated displays of affection. Inappropriate grabbing. Dance partners not dancing face-to-face.

[snip]

And as prom season begins — Brockport, East Irondequoit, Hilton, Pittsford Sutherland and Rush-Henrietta high schools all held dances Saturday — some parents are concerned their children are receiving the wrong messages about sex and relationships from school dances.

[snip]

Earlier this school year, Brighton High School had to cancel a Halloween dance when it couldn't secure enough chaperones, partly because some faculty members felt the students' behavior was too out-of-hand. Since then, the school has adopted a new set of guidelines for student conduct at dances. 

The article is, of course, chock full of the D&C's regular unintended hilarity.  To wit:

While sexuality has always been a characteristic of teen functions, many school districts today are taking extra steps to regulate dance styles, including enforcing stricter rules and reviewing appropriate conduct with students.

and

"I don't think we can stop kids from developing sexual feelings and urges in early adolescence. That's pretty normal," said  [clinical psychologist James] Windell.

But seriously, the article makes at least one good point: that school dances offer young people an opportunity to develop social skills, but that schools typically provide little or no instruction or guidance on what kinds of social interactions are appropriate and beneficial.  

While local high schools have taken many steps to control dancing styles, some students say they have only learned one way of dancing. 

David DuBois, a senior in Brighton, said he has danced the same way since he attended his first dance as a freshman.

"I see all these other kids doing it," DuBois said. "Me being a little freshman, I'm just going to follow it."

Exactly. Back in my high-school teaching days, I would elicit eye rolls from students and teachers alike by suggesting that the school treat dances as educational activities (what with the school being an educational institution and all), and teach students how to dance--ballroom, slasa, hip-hop, etc.  Lacking the knowledge of how to dance, kids simply mimic what they see on MTV, or mimic other kids who are mimicing what they see on MTV. But doesn't the popularity of TV shows like Dancing With the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance indicate that young people might be interested in learning how to do something on the dancefloor other than bump and grind?