Students Make Provocative Demand of High School – So the Principal Responds Appropriately

Gorham High School in Gorham, Maine has finally taken a stand which has received national attention. What did they do, you ask? Well, as a 2014 Homecoming Dance turned into a “grinding” session of unmarried, young adolescents who demanded to be allowed to grind or they would walk out, the principal stood up like a man and said no more dances.

Principal Chris Record tried and tried to allow for the youth of his school to conduct themselves properly at school dances, but in 2014, he had enough and said there would be no dance in the 2015-16 school year.

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In a letter to parents, Principal Record wrote, “Before my arrival in 2008 and since, GHS administration, dance chaperones, some students, and some parents have struggled with the modern dance culture.  It is by no means the students’ fault, but the dancing they have witnessed on MTV/VHS/movies involves primarily only sexually suggestive grinding.  Grinding basically involves a girl having her back and buttocks pushed up/pulled up against the boy’s groin with the boy’s hands on her hips and other places.  There is a spectrum of this dancing that includes some space between the partners to absolutely no space and even the girl bending over in front of the boy.”

While his overall view is correct, one must point out the not only has it correctly been parents’ fault and faculty for not putting an end to it, which they could have done, but it is most definitely the fault of the students as well. They know better. They just don’t want to follow the rules.

Record went on to state, “The challenges of this dance culture (nationwide, not just at GHS) include the following:

1. This is very difficult to monitor/control with a giant mass of students, low lighting, and very provocative music (just listen to 97.9 or 93.1 on the radio).  GHS administrators do walk through this mass of people and chaperones are present, but it is still very difficult to monitor/control, even with increasing the lighting and asking DJs to be careful with music choices.
   
2. Very few GHS staff members have been willing to serve as chaperones because of the awkward position this places them in, of being present for this dancing and having to break it up.
   
3. School administrators are placed in the situation of being bouncers.  This results in an antagonistic relationship between administrators and students.
   
4. What regularly happens at dances in terms of student contact would never be condoned during the school day.
   
5. Younger students have complained about being forced/manipulated/encouraged to participate in grinding.
   
6. Parents have complained about how their children have been harassed at dances and/or exposed to conduct that they believe should not occur at school.
   

He then went on to present what the 2015-16 school year would look like concerning offering “social, safe, and appropriate events” for the students at his school.

1. We believe the US dance culture has moved beyond what a high school can condone or control effectively;
2. We want to offer inclusive, safe events that meet our core values and behavioral expectations;
3. We believe activity nights can be fun and still offer a safe place for all students, grades 9-12; to gather (such as a Homecoming bonfire);
4. There are other events that could be held that would raise money for Student Council and the senior class.

I applaud his efforts at trying to maintain some sense of decorum, but the problem is a moral one. There must be a standard for morality. If grinding among unmarried adolescents is wrong, why? Who determines that and on what authority?

The deeper question is what business does the school have in providing “social, safe, and appropriate events”? Additionally, where is their authority to be indoctrinating children with godless education in the first place?

Because America’s public indoctrination centers are godless, they lack any moral authority to say anything is wrong, including grinding. They are left to their own whims or the whims of the state.

Now, all of this may sound like the setting of the film Footloose, but in reality, what is going on at the school dances is not even related to the school dance that took place in the original movie.

However, lest anyone think me a joy killer, I’m far from that. I know there is a time to dance (Ecclesiastes 3:4). I know there is a time when we worship the Lord in dance with music (Ps. 149:3,4). But let’s be honest here. There is nothing pure or right about high school young people engaging in this kind of dancing.

Again, I appreciate that Mr. Record has taken a stand, and I think he does so because he loves the kids, but I ask, on what basis? Is it a basis where the authority is the Word of God or is it just something he is uncomfortable with, but it has no bearing on whether or not students are being taught how to honor their Creator?

You’re probably thinking, not my kid and not my school. People are so naïve. Your children are in these indoctrination centers for eight hours a day. Most parents couldn’t tell you what goes on ten minutes of the day in the classes or what is actually taught until after it is taught. If you don’t believe me, just check out Bradlee Dean’s My War and see what is being taught and done in America’s public schools.

Parents, it’s time to love your children enough to remove them from a place where they are subjected to everything and protected from nothing and start training and teaching them yourself. They need you, not a paid state employee to teach them. You can do it. God has commanded you to do it (Deut. 6), and as always, there is a source that can help you start for free. Break the bondage of state education and train free minds that are only bound by the authority of the Word of God!