When high schools sponsor dances for students, they usually start off with the good intentions of raising money for the school and giving students a good time. But somewhere in the mixture of pelvis-to-pelvis bumping and grinding, revealing attire and strict chaperones, school dances usually end up dividing communities. The city of Argyle is the latest victim of the classic clash between teenage angst and protective adults.
The Homecoming dance in the Argyle Independent School District caused outrage between school administers, parents and students over the dancing policy and dress code. The 2007 -2008 student handbook states that dresses, skirts and slits in dresses and skirts can be only three inches above the knees, and dresses, blouses and shirts must have at least a three-inch shoulder seam. The dance policy outlaws pelvis-to-pelvis dancing or “bumping and grinding.”
These rules are not uncommon among school districts across the country, but rarely are they ever as strictly enforced. Girls at the Argyle homecoming had to alter their outfit during the dance, mostly by putting a T-shirt over their so-called revealing gowns. Girls should not be forced to alter dresses that they paid a lot of money for, so some males don’t get too excited. This shows how little the administration thinks of its students. High schools should be able to let students make the mature decisions about their outfits and dancing. There will most likely be more compliance with students that have freedom, than ones that are being oppressed by administrators.
In an article in the Dallas Morning News, first-year superintendent Jason Ceyanes said, “If you’re simulating sex acts and you’re touching, you’re not creating an environment that’s conducive to learning.” Mr. Ceyanes, students spend upward of 30 hours learning each week, so the last thing on their mind when they come to a dance is making sure that they can learn in the environment. It is absurd to think that students from a school district known for its state-level achievements and a 100 percent graduation rate for two years straight can’t have a little fun.
Fortunately, before the situation got any more out of control, possibly driving students away from school sponsored dances, the Argyle ISD has decided to come to an agreement to modify the dress code at formal dances and present it at a Nov. 12 meeting. Although the new effort by the administration shows that a compromise may be in the works, the dance policy is still a problem that students will have to sneak around and administrators will have to eventually give up on.
School districts should ask themselves if they are putting on school dances to raise money and have a good time or to regulate moral decency. If it’s the latter, disapproving of a younger generation’s dancing style is an age-old process, and history has shown that fighting it only increases rebellious notions in students. Argyle is a district filled with talented students; don’t let the policies of a few strict administrators create teenagers filled with feelings of oppression.
