A recent Chicago Tribune article, entitled A Rebellion In Motion, reported that Lake Zurich High School District 95 has recently banned ‘grinding’ at all school dances. Currently, District 86 does not ban any forms of dancing at school events.
“It’s possible that we would release some sort of mandate like that if we saw an increase in the problem,” said Stephanie Hiffman, an English teacher and head of the Varsity club. “There did seem to be a lot more effort on our part last year to prevent inappropriate things on the dance floor,” Hiffman said.
In order to prevent this type of dancing, Lake Zurich Community Unit School District sent out a letter to all of the student’s parents. The letter, portions of which the Tribune published, reads: “In most cases a student stands directly behind their partner. He/she then places their hands either on their partner’s hips or around their midsection. At the same time, he/she presses their pelvic region against their partner’s backside. As the music plays, the students then thrust, or ‘grind’, to the beat of the music. Sometimes, the person in front will even bend over as they dance, placing their hands on their knees or the floor”.
“I don’t know that their method of enforcement was the best; I think there are better ways of handling it without putting it in such a negative light and sending out a letter beforehand and assuming the kids are going to be bad. I think most kids know how to behave; the kids who grind at dances are not the majority of the population,” Hiffman said.
However, in past years, chaperones at Central’s dances have had to force their way through the crowd just to make sure the dancing doesn’t get out of hand.
“The problem is that grinding leads to more physical touching and groping that is unacceptable behavior in a high school setting,” said Nick Gebhart, a coach and a returning dance chaperone this year.
In addition to the letter that was sent out to the parents, the school also implemented a bracelet system to monitor who was engaging in promiscuous conduct and, therefore, kicked out.
“I think it’s unfair,” said senior, Sarah Nolin, “It’s not something you can control. The teachers are not going to be standing in the middle of the dance floor trying to pull people apart.”
Hiffman said that the dancing at Turnabout last year was a problem and disturbing for most teachers.
“Perhaps that’s evidence that [grinding] is a growing trend. We’ll have to take a look at what homecoming is like before we make that call and implement a rule. It could’ve just been a fluke,” Hiffman said.
“I think the administration could definitely end up doing something like that, but, if that happens, no one would go to the dance,” Nolin said.
