Another School Seeks To Curb Grinding Menace

JANUARY 31--In advance of a student dance next week, administrators at a high school in suburban Chicago have assured parents that their offspring will not be engaging in “grinding,” which the brass helpfully defined in a letter sent home to parents.

While many students at Mundelein High School “dance in an appropriate manner,” a “particular style of dancing has become increasingly inappropriate,” according to the letter signed by Principal Lauren Fagel and other administrators. “Please excuse the graphic description that follows, but we feel strongly that parents need to be aware of the issue we are trying to resolve.”

Fagel & Co. then explained that grinding is a “sexually explicit, back-to-front style of dancing” that usually involves a student standing “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,” according to the two-page alert.

Parents, administrators noted, have raised concerns about sending their children to events where inappropriate dancing is taking place. Teacher chaperones have also expressed that  “this type of dancing does not reflect the standards to which we want to hold our students.” And students (presumably those milling about the punch bowl) have “stated that the ‘grinding’ makes them feel uncomfortable and it is difficult to ‘fit in’ for those who want to dance appropriately.”

As a result, beginning with the Turnabout Dance on February 11, “Back-to-front dancing, as well as any type of sexually explicit dancing, will not be allowed.” Those violating anti-grinding regulations face possible expulsion from the event (or even banishment from future school dances).

While administrators have carefully addressed the grinding menace, they have yet to offer students guidance on the propriety of other favorite school dance activities, including swiftboating, hiding the gordita, or the Captain Morgan. (2 pages)