In the News...Dirty Dancing Disturbs Parents and Students
The kind of dancing that goes on disturbs and saddens the parent chaperones. The trend for pelvis thrusting and grinding between boy and girl and between girl and girl has developed out of the extremely sexualized environment American teenagers have grown up in—television, print advertisement, movies, Internet and music.
The problem is widespread throughout the United States, and school administrators are increasingly taking strong measures, including expulsion of students from dances, cancellation of offensive dances and addressing of the situation through school assemblies.
Music styles contribute to the problem. "We find if they don't play rap music, the kids don't dance in that style. If they play a lot of oldies music or what I might term Top 40's popular tunes, they dance in different styles we don't find offensive," said Grandview Heights High School principal Steve Andersson.
The core issue, however, was addressed by student Brian Carpenter speaking about his fellow students: "I don't think they think they're doing anything wrong. It's the only way they've grown up knowing because no one has taught them or shown them any other way to dance."
This is where young people following God's way of life have a duty and an advantage. The duty is to reject immorality in all forms from their lives, including wrongful dancing, by abstaining from those activities. The advantage is that the right way is clearly shown through God's word in the Bible. You simply need to ask to be taught properly. God's way trades degrading behavior for positive, energetic usefulness. Have you tried it lately? (Kristy Eckert, "Grinding Their Teeth," The Columbus Dispatch, Nov. 4, 2005).