School outlaws ‘grinding’ at dances

RICHMOND, R.I.—Administrators at Chariho High School said they are prohibiting “grinding” at high school dances.

Grinding is very close dancing in which the dancers simulate sexual activity.

The new rule, which will be in place for this weekend’s homecoming dance, comes after school officials say the moves they saw at the last dance would make the moves in the movie “Dirty Dancing” look tame.

“It’s a very sexually explicit form of dance that is inappropriate for school. We’re not asking that the kids can’t slow dance. They can hug,“ said school committee chairwoman Holly Eaves.

“Over time we’ve been discouraging it and it has become more pervasive, and we felt that it was time to take a stand on this and say, ‘This is just not acceptable,‘“ said Chariho superintendent Barry Ricci.

Ricci said most parents are on board with the policy.

“If it’s inappropriate, which I think the teachers think it is, then yes, I think it should be stopped,” said parent Leslie Demers.

Ricci said students are upset and that they want to grind at dances.

“It’s going to be hard for the kids to accept that because they are taking it out from under their feet when they’ve been accepting of it for a long time. I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing. I just think they needed to come up with a more gradual solution for the problem,“ said parent Connie Willeford.

Ricci predicts attendance for the homecoming dance to be low. He said ticket sales are already slow and that the “no grinding rule” is to blame.

Ricci said he thinks students who end up going to the dance will adhere to the new rule. As far those who don’t, Ricci said the consequence could be afterschool detention.