These Damn Kids Nowadays

[JakeD]

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. - (KRT) - Gaoda McFadden still wonders what all the fuss is about. The way the 16-year-old sees it, the principal overreacted by ending his school's homecoming party early because kids were dancing, well, the way kids dance.

Like many of his friends at Stephenson High School, McFadden sees nothing wrong with bumping and grinding on the dance floor or being sandwiched between two girls with their hips gyrating against him. After all, he said, you can turn on MTV or Black Entertainment Television and see it all day.

Right.

This story outlines a tiny bit of backlash against some teen fads that have been around since I started high school...and I graduated two frigging years ago.

I never understood the rationale behind freak dancing. "Freakin", "gettin' crunk", whatever they call it in your neighborhood...it just didn't make sense to me. Now, not to say that I was going to object to some hot chick wanting to rub pelvises with me on the dance floor, and I have participated in such dance moves before just to go with the moment. Mainly because someone had either spiked the punch with ecstasy, or I was so hard up during a sexual drought that the idea of mercilessly dry-humping some slutty hot chick's backside on a crowded dancefloor loaded with tons of fellow hormonally and chemically imbalanced high-schoolers seemed like a viable substitute (or even a catalyst) for some sweaty sheet-side action.

But looking back, I realize two things: a) how fucking pointless it is, and b) how odd and desperate it must look to a spectator. I won't deny how hot and heavy it can get sometimes, and that's always a good thing. But the ongoing behavior of the upcoming generations of teenagers never ceases to amaze me, and by amaze me I mean to set my bile duct churning. I never dug the saggy pants shit. I wear baggy shorts, but that's more for my own comfort, and I do my best not to let my crack or my boxers hang out. I never dressed like a thug, although I listened to rap music and so forth. Jackass was funny to watch, but to actually set my ass-crack on fire while holding my genitals into a crocodile's open mouth and trying to ramp a minivan over the brick wall to my friend's backyard was a stupid idea. And I completely understand the various responses to negative reactions to this sort of stuff "They're just kids, they need to discover themselves, blahblahblah". That's all taken into consideration, I assure you.

But where should kids draw the line? When should they prove their rationale by making a firm choice to set themselves apart from others without looking like a total flake?

What do you think are the drawbacks to the situations brought forth in the article? What are the positive factors?

Moreover....are YOU shocked?

[entipy]

Shocked? No, I'm not shocked. Every generation has its "bad" thing. In the 50s, it was Elvis. In the 60s, it was free love and pot. In the 70s, well, I've run out of knowing what the deal was you get the picture I'm sure. :D

The more you look back over history, the more you see things really haven't changed all that much.

The world runs in cycles. It always has, and it always will. It's just difficult to see when you're in the middle of one. :)

[Lilith]

I think the principal had drawn unnecessary media attention to something as trite and small as it is pointless and common. It was a stupid thing of him to do.

[gharm]

Homecoming dances aren't that big of a deal. If it was the Prom, then there may be more reason for uproar over cancellation.

[Unforgiven]

I'm all for kids doing dangerous things. It just speeds up natural selection.

Mandatory gun ownership for parents!

[Bassmama]

Oh, Lordy, lordy, lordy. Here we go again.

Back when I was in high school (I'm in the graduating class of '69 -yeah, baby!) Rock & Foll was the thing. Beatles, Rolling Stones, Dylan, DC5,... Janis Joplin..... you get the pic.) if you weren't far enough apart so a teacher/chaperone could put their hand between you & swipe it up & down EASILY, your parents were called & you were sent home- WITH a week's detention. We weren't allowed to be the least bit 'sexual', but WERE expected to dress like everyone else. Mini skirts were the thing & the boys got GREAT views as us girls went up the stairs.

I've got to tell you, bump & grind was the thing that came out of the years of sexual frustration & wanting to, but for whatever reason, not being able to have sex. It was an expression of sexuality, our joy of living, finding out about ourselves, & expressing our 'individuality'- mostly where it concerned breaking away from our parents' control.

Jake- your sentiments that you expressed surprise the hell out of me. How did you get to be such a prude? And you've only been out of school for 2 years? Holy SHIT- I can't wait to see what you end up like at MY age! Maybe you were getting it on in high school, but you weren't from Stone Mountain GEORGIA! Before you ask how I know anything about that place, let me tell you that I have a birth cousin & her family that live there & her kids go to that school. The area (although a BIG tourist spot) is a VERY "NICE" area- lots of expensive houses & 'Leave It To Beaver' feel. I was there last spring. From what I saw, I doubt if many of those kids were having sex & if they were, they would NEVER have let their parents or anyone older know about it. Not everybody is having sex while they're in HS.

Then you have TV that shows the prevailing trend in the 'cities'- Gangsta Rap & tribal-style dancing being the big thing- and these 'nice' kids are being subliminally told that THiS is the way to be 'in'- and it's fun! What's the harm?

YES, I think the principal overreacted BIGTIME. If he didn't want them dancing like that, he could have told them to not do it- then let a student council decide later if it should be allowed or not.

The more the 'older' generation tries to stop an action, the more the kids will be rebelling & doing the action.

It IS just another trend that will eventually pass.

[Unforgiven]

Not everybody is having sex while they're in HS.

Hell, some of us are still trying, after high school...

[JakeD]

I'm not being a prude, I just think it's stupid. Just like I thought most of my fellow students were stupid, because....they were. Sure, Jackass was funny and so forth, but there were kids at my school who went out and did the stuff, and suffered injuries from it. I know a kid who let someone else repeatedly burn his arms with cigarettes because, and this is a direct quote..."we were bored". If that's not stupidity, I don't know what is.

I was writing that from an insider's perspective. I participated in the dancing stuff just to get along with my peers and maybe get a little action, but I always thought it was stupid.

I don’t like the moral stance that the one person in the article was taking and the general moral stance that people want to hoot and holler about, but the idea itself still freaks me out. I don't agree with the principal's actions at all, and I never said I did. My rant extended on towards the fact that my generation and the ones after it are going to be generally known for being fucking idiots with a overactive sex drive, and that pisses me off.

I came from a place that was probably a lot like Stone Mountain, it was a small Bible Belt town where everyone kept their dirty laundry under wraps. Kids ARE having sex there, just like they probably are everywhere else, they just keep it a secret. Trust me. I've seen many instances of such behavior. A good friend of mine (the son of a DPS seargeant and a schoolteacher) had a sexual relationship with his girlfriend, whose mother was a Bible-thumping ignorant witch of a schoolteacher. They got caught, and their relationship was torn to pieces. They were thrown into the spotlight and people treated them lower than scum, due to the fact that they had premarital sex and because their parents were high-profile citizens. Now, mind you, they had kept their relationship under wraps for five years prior.

They were very discreet, and so were most of the other kids when it came to their sexual relationships. They yakked about it to their friends at school and their peers, but when adults were around, everything was hush-hush. It was like that all over the place, in surrounding towns AND cities. The only people who knew about it were the kids who were friends with them. And, as a result, most of the parents had no clue as to what was going on. I knew LOTS of girls (from my town and surrounding ones) who acted like total angels, went to church, etc. AND got wasted and had sex regularly. It's hard to look at a school and an area and say, "Hmm, these kids seem nice, I doubt they're having sex", because kids in those kinds of areas and situations are experienced with keeping stuff hidden.

Until they get caught, of course.

The only remotely prudish thing I think about it is that it's basically advertising the fact that you're gonna fuck later on right there on the dance floor. Sure, you can call me a prudish fuddy-duddy, but I don't want to see that shit. If I want to dance, I'll do something that requires a higher IQ and more skill than a hormonally-imbalanced dog can muster. What's so wrong about wanting to enjoy a good, clean school dance without the idea of someone fucking? If I wanted to see that, I'd rent a video.

Posted a couple of examples below, just for those of you who aren't sure what I'm exactly referring to.

[Evilpoptart]

I thing its retarded, but who am I to point fingers? Generally I am with Jake here. It is funny to watch, but yet proves to me that the fucktards will do anything they see on TV.

[Ice Man]

Okay, I graduated in 1986. At the age of 37, I have watch some drastic changes in our society as well, Bass. I don't believe that JakeD is being a prude by expressing his moral opinions on public behavior. I agree that kids for the select few following this fad are stupid and without disipline and should be flogged. (laughing) Seriously, when do you draw the line. I noticed one sentence that JakeD made:


But where should kids draw the line?

It should not be up to minors to draw the line. A minor is someone whom by societies standard are not capable of making educated descisions about matters of life altering effects. Be it alcohol, sex, legal or otherwise, these descisions are to be made by the parents. If someone wants to point fingers, point them at the parents of the unruly. Point them at the society that has forbidden punishment of their children or suffer the penalty of law.

[Bassmama]

You guys pretty much made my point- it's up to the parents- not just their own, but EVERY KID'S. The thing is, whether the kid is doing the dancing in public or private doesn't matter. By the time they're in high school, they aught to know right from wrong & just because they're dancing like that in public doesn't necessarily mean they're having sex. Maybe they are & maybe they aren't, but they should be able to make decisions of basic right & wrong by that time- and if they don't, no "decision making" by parents will do any good.

Parents CANNOT stop their kids from sex, drugs, alcohol, or anything else & to think they can is naiive. My parents were so HORRIBLY strict that the few times I DID date (I wasn't "ALLOWED" to) was with a friend that they approved of because they knew his family- and he'd take me to the local bowling lanes & buy drinks @ the bar & sneak to me (I was 16- he was 18) & we'd go 'parking' in back of a duck farm after he'd bought 2 six packs of Colt 45 Beer & we'd see who could outdrink the other one. The only reason why we didn't have sex is because 1) I knew nothing about birth control & was terrified, & 2) he was my friend & I thought that I wanted to 'save myself' & be a 'good girl'. I couldn't understand why they had such strict cerfews, either- didn't they think I could fuck before midnight?

Icey, how many kids do YOU have that you've raised? I was a single parent. We were VERY poor because I was constantly getting physically ill & haveing surgeries, so couldn't hold a job & the ones I got were minimum wage. My son was pretty much a 'latchkey' kid when I WAS working & he screwed up a couple of times in his life, but by the time he was in high school, I KNEW I had instilled basic rules in him. I KNEW he knew right from wrong.

Jake, I don't want to see that crap either & think it's MUCH too explicit for a school dance, but to cancel the whole dance because of the actions of a few is WAAAAY overboard IMHO. As far as being pissed off at what your generation might look like in the future, THAT'S ridiculous, as far as I'm concerned. Back in the 30s & 40s they had gangsters & 'zoot suits' & all kinds of wild (then) stuff going on. In the 50s it was Elvis & the beginning of Rock; the 60's was acid rock, rebellion, sex, drugs, dressing like gutter rats, social change... and it goes on from there, but the stupid fads do not depict any particular group through history- what they as a group do & develop does. The kids of the '70s & 80s will be known for the computerization/technology advancement of the world & it continues still. Don't get your panties in a bunch, darlin'- I didn't attack you. I was just surprised to hear someone as young as you saying what you did the way you did- but, then, I was surprised to find out how young you were the first time I found out- you're WAY mature for your age. (And, there was a bit of ribbing in that first reply, too- but guess you missed it.)

My thing was, instead of being hysterical about it & cancelling the dance, why not put a stop to it, then meet later & tell the kids WHY it's not acceptable, instead of ruining it for everyone because of the actions of a few. That would have taught the kids the boundaries & not drawn the noteriety that it did.

Oh- BTW- according to rumor in my High School, I was having sex regularly with different people. Funny- why wasn't I there?? (And it wasn't with my drinking buddy, either.)

[JakeD]

Don't get your panties in a bunch, darlin'- I didn't attack you. I was just surprised to hear someone as young as you saying what you did the way you did-
My nice lacy black panties are unbunched, ma'am, I was just defending my stance. :cool:

Oh- BTW- according to rumor in my High School, I was having sex regularly with different people. Funny- why wasn't I there?? (And it wasn't with my drinking buddy, either.)
That kinda shit drives me up the wall, I hate it when people have to spread rumors because they think it makes them cool....I was friends with a girl during my junior and senior year who wasn't an attractive girl, but she was really really nice, cool, and had a great personality. These morons were spreading rumors about her being a slut and getting laid all the time (by me, usually, despite the fact that I was having a fling with a girl I had known for a while after a final breakup with my ex), and the first thing out of her mouth was "Well, I wish I had known about all this so I could have been there."
With a response like that, people started to shut up and leave it alone. Plus she was a pretty stout chick who was going into the army, so if any of them had given her any lip, she'd have made short work of them. We used to joke that if I had had sex with her and we'd procreated, those kids would have been beasts. "UG! COME HERE, NOW. STOP TEARING DOWN THAT BARBED WIRE FENCE. Oh, these crazy two year-olds" etc.

[entipy]

Plus she was a pretty stout chick who was going into the army, so if any of them had given her any lip, she'd have made short work of them. We used to joke that if I had had sex with her and we'd procreated, those kids would have been beasts. "UG! COME HERE, NOW. STOP TEARING DOWN THAT BARBED WIRE FENCE. Oh, these crazy two year-olds" etc.

LMAO!!!