In this age of #MeToo, a government school in Utah is being criticized for forcing girls to dance with anyone who asks, whether they want to or not. According to school officials, the policy is designed to promote “kindness” and “inclusiveness.” But concerned parents say it sends a dark message.
The controversial policy, which made national news this week, first came to light when a 6th grade girl told her mom that she was not allowed to say “no” if a boy asked her to dance at the Kanesville Elementary’s Valentine’s Day dance. At first, the mother could not believe it.
“Oh no, no honey,” Natalie Richard said she told her daughter. “You guys are misunderstanding again. That’s not how it is.” Except that is how it was, according to the teacher. “The teacher said she can’t. She has to say yes. She has to accept and I said, ‘Excuse me,” the concerned mom told a local Fox affiliate.
The mother then took her concerns to the principal, who also confirmed that the children were forced to say “yes” if asked to dance. It was not immediately clear if boys were forced to ask girls to dance, in the interest of acceptance and kindness.
But despite the controversy, school officials defended the policy. “Please be respectful, be polite,” Weber School District’s Lane Findlay was quoted as saying news reports. “We want to promote kindness, and so we want you to say yes when someone asks you to dance.”
Apparently, forcing students to dance with others against their will promotes “inclusiveness.” But Richard, the concerned mom, worries that it promotes something else too – and that all of it was done without even getting permission from parents.
“Sends a bad message to girls that girls have to say ‘yes’; sends a bad message to boys that girls can’t say ‘no,'” she explained, proposing permission slips in the future. “Psychologically, my daughter keeps coming to me and saying I can’t say ‘no’ to a boy. That’s the message kids are getting.”
With “participation” trophies becoming the order of the day in an effort to coddle every student and build their “self-esteem,” children are being sheltered from reality in a way that will inevitably harm them once they get out in the real world. This may seem like a small and insignificant example, but it illustrates a larger problem.
Plus, with 6th graders across America and worldwide being bombarded with perverted and graphic “sexuality education” in government schools and blatant promotion of sexual revolution in all sorts of media, the problems with this sort of “just say yes” policy become clear. Forcing people to do something against their will like this – even if they are little people – is wrong.