Is modern day dancing really endangering our generation? The root of all evil to a Chicago Sun-Times columnist, Betsy Hart, is what my generation likes to call "freak dancing."(aka grinding...and for those more advanced users-of-slang, "bumpin' & grindin'")
Hart begins her column with a warning to her children, "I'm going to chaperone every high school dance you attend." This concerned mother of four believes that the continued presence of "freak dancing" during school dances will lead to sexual assault and abuse. She goes on to speak out against the use of this more sexual form of dancing, by voicing her belief that children need parents to "protect them from themselves, whether they like it or not."
The rhetorical question that Betsy Hart used reads, "'If the $400 dress girl' had been sexually assaulted in the parking lot after the festivities because the dance wasn't a "dud," would her mom be happy, or suing the school?"
Hart is making the point that dirty dancing is leading to bad situations, and parents aren't reacting in a worried way towards their childrens safety.She believes that it is time to start changing the way adults view this type of behavior, in order to abolish it.
I agree that this type of dance does reflect upon one's morals, but Hart is approaching the situation in a risky way. The way we present ourselves does have an impact on others, and does reveal our character those around us, but inappropriate behavior cannot be corrected through sudden, strict punishment. If Hart's goal is correct teens' social practices by being a social nazi, in hopes that other moms will follow in her footsteps, she is in for a rude awakening. Not only will these teenagers begin to resent, but will also rebel against authority. Parents without morals themselves cannot expect to, after raising their children without these morals either, all of a sudden impose rules upon them and expect them to accept that way of thinking.
It is too late now.
This behavior can only be stopped by teaching and building good morals into their children at a young age, to develop good character that they can trust to make the right decision in any situation. Because when they grow up, they won't have their parents to be their chaperones through life.
While Betsy thinks she is starting a revolution, what she's aking for is a war.
2 comments:
Andrea, you write, "Parents without morals themselves cannot expect to, after raising their children without these morals either, all of a sudden impose rules upon them and expect them to accept that way of thinking." So what are parents with morals supposed to do when children display and engage in inappropriate behavior? Should they not say anything? Condone it? Allow it to continue? Hope it will pass? Children may not like it the parental supervision/eagle eye at the dance, but I bet some will opt to use other moves on the dance floor.
mr. brandt,
I am not advocating the use of these dance moves. I agree with you that the parents with morals are doing what is best by taking action. To rephrase what I posted, parents with morals should keep doing their job. It would be hard for them to just sit around and watch. But, for the parents who could care less, their children are not going to change like the rest might. In order for them to see what they're doing as wrong, some type of moral convictions need to be built into them at an early age. The parents with morals were raised to have morals, so if we want the children of the next generations to have moral convictions, they need to be instilled in them as well. The kids raised with good morals are more likely to not give into what others around them are doing. As a result, the parents shouldn't(there are exceptions) have to give them the eagle eye. As for the rest, teaching morals to a teenager without them, is harder to adapt to.
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