Mark Morris principal cancels dances
Thursday, October 4, 2007 7:05 AM PDT
By Carrie Pederson / The Daily News
Printable version
E-mail this articleAfter nagging students five years about freak dancing, Mark Morris High School Principal Chris Fritsch took a stand last week.
He canceled the next three fall dances, including this Friday's homecoming, because students have ignored his edicts not to dance in the provocative, bump-and-grind style.
"It's frustrating because we do not want to limit activities or opportunities," Fritsch said in an interview this week. "But we are a public school, and there is a level of appropriate behavior."
Although student leaders at Mark Morris said they knew Fritsch opposed freaking, they didn't expect him to take cancel the events.
"He (Fritsch ) never offered an ultimatum," said senior Tom Roth, president of the Associated Student Body.
He said students' will try to organize homecoming and tolo dances somewhere off campus. After homecoming, the ASB will try to develop a dance policy with the administration in hopes that dances can resume in the winter.
"(The administration) is really good at accommodating students on all other issues," said Roth, except when it comes to dealing with students on how they want to dance.
Freak dancing, which some critics consider simulated sex, has been a hot topic at schools around the nation.
In Puyallup, high school officials have banned freak dancing since 2001. Inglemoor High School, in the Northshore School District near Seattle, also cancelled dances last year in response to freaking.
Locally, Kelso High School Principal Adele Marshall and R.A. Long Principal Andrew Frost have tightened dance rules. Frost sees a need for higher standard of behavior in school, at lunch and at school dances.
"Improvement to the school's culture will lead to academic improvement," he said.
Marshall said Kelso students aren't thrilled about the school's new "face-to-face" dancing policy, which discourages the front-to-back, bump-and-grind style. "Kids were adjusting, but they were grumbling because they want to dance like they do at clubs," she said.
In banning dances, Fritsch is treading on one of the most popular student activities at Mark Morris. Roth noted that dances earlier this year had 200 to 300 attendees.
Fritch said he gave students verbal warnings, put up signs, tried to change the music, and even shut down previous dances early. And some students acknowledge the principal's warnings were ignored.
"I think (dancing) was something that needed to be addressed between adults and students," said Mark Morris junior Christy Polis. "But I think it may have been handled the wrong way because it caused more anger than having something constructive happen."
However, some faculty members say students haven't been willing to accept restrictions.
"Students have tended to dismiss adult concerns and resist change," said Michael Poindexter, ASB advisor at Mark Morris. "It's like talking to a wall."
Mario Woodburg, a sophomore at R.A. Long, said its normal for students to want to freak dance. "That's the way you dance," he said. "It's modern-day dancing."
Nevertheless, some students say pressure to freak makes them uncomfortable and keeps them away from dances.
"Sometimes students go too far, and we've had a harder time getting chaperones, so we lose students by that," said Mark Morris sophomore Jillian Avalon. She added the students are sometimes "peer-pressured to dance that way."
Some Mark Morris parents are working with students to replace dances with activities on or off-campus.
"We've thought about maybe contacting Parks and Rec., or to come up with something they can to take the place of the dance at the school," said Amy Luedke, whose daughter is a Mark Morris senior.
Mark Morris senior and ASB vice president Chris Mahoney said he will miss having the dance as a way to wind down after the football game. His mother, Virginia Mahoney, also laments the loss.
"I don't approve of this style of dancing, but it is not isolated to Mark Morris. We shouldn't punish the student body," she said, calling Fritsch's action "an extreme measure"
"There are not a lot of alternatives in a small town," she added. "It's turning a lot of kids out that are looking for something to do after a football game."
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