Middle School Policy; All Kids Required To Dance With Anyone Who Asks
Talk about giving mixed messages this one is a doozy. A middles school in the state of Utah actually requires that all girls and boys dance with any other student who asks.
What happened to a girl has a choice and “no means no”?
The Washington Post is reporting on Rich Middle school in Laketown Utah which is among a growing trend of schools that require their students who attend school dances to never turn down a request to dance.
A mother by the name of Alicia Hobson told the Washington Post that her 11-year-old daughter was very excited the morning of the Valentine’s Day dance at her middle school. She had a crush on a boy and hoped to dance with him. Her mother went on to say:
She was so excited in the morning when she left…I asked if she got to dance with the boy she liked, and she did and she was happy. But in the same breath she was exasperated because she had to dance with the boy she hates.
Ms. Hobson said that her daughter “tried to politely decline the invitation, but the school’s principal rushed over and told her saying “no” was against school rules”. Against school rules to turn down a request to dance. Do you see how insane part of this country is getting? It must be horrible to grow up in a time and place like this school where so many mixed messages are thrown at these children.
The 11-year-old girl told the local TV station KSTU:
I just didn’t like it at all…When they finally said it was done, I was like, ‘Yes!’
In an interview with KSTU, the principal of the school denied the girl was “forced” to dance. But then went on to admit that his school's policy is that students must accept all invitations to dance. Can someone explain his double talk to me, please? What is the difference between “force” and “must”? He told Salt Lake Tribune:
We want to protect every child’s right to be safe and comfortable at school…We also believe that all children should be included in activities.
He then went on to say he wants the school:
to make sure no kids feel like they get left out.
As I stated this is not an isolated incident similar policies exist at other schools and church dances.
One woman posted on Ms. Hobson’s Facebook page:
I’m a mother of only boys…They have expressed concern of rejections. I told them to take chances of asking, because you never know. If rejected, then that’s life.
The 11-year old girl’s mother posted on her Facebook page:
Girls HAVE to learn that they have the right to say no and that those around them have to respect that…I’m not going to quietly stand by while my daughter and all of her classmates are being wrapped up in rape culture. No way.
Apparently girls do not have the right to say no at Rich Middle school or other schools around this nation when it comes to dancing.
People with some common sense must start getting elected to these school boards and push back against this insanity. These children have to learn life is hard and you are going to be rejected thousands of times in your lifetime. We must teach our children to accept rejection and move on. In teaching your children to accept and how to deal with rejection they then will not grow up to be snowflakes and still be living in Mommy’s and Daddy’s house at the age of 30.