Glacier High implementing new dance policy

Dances will look a little different at Glacier High School from now on.

Starting with the Nov. 12 Sadie Hawkins dance, the high school will enforce new dancing expectations. While Glacier always has had a policy forbidding “lewd conduct” at school, on buses or at school-sponsored events — including dances — the new rules are much more explicit.

The new expectations are outlined in a draft Principal Callie Langohr sent out earlier this month.

“Vulgar/provocative dancing, such as grinding, will not be allowed, nor any form of dance which is sexually suggestive or mimics sexual acts. Students must be facing one another when dancing and must keep some space between one another, with appropriate hand placements,” the draft says.

Langohr said the new rules are a long time coming. Over the last couple of years, she has heard other Class AA principals talk about student dances and “kids crossing the line on dancing,” she said.

“A couple schools ... started last year to change the policy, change the expectations and change the standard,” Langohr said, citing Billings and Bozeman as two schools that have implemented more explicitly prohibitive rules for school dances.

At the same time, Langohr began paying closer attention to the way students were dancing at Glacier High dances. After the Homecoming Dance earlier this month, she decided the school needed a change.

“I just left there saying, ‘I think it’s time that we do a better job,’” she said. “And it starts with me. As building leader, I need to expect and work with students so that we do a better job at our dances.”

She drafted the new dance expectations after studying policies from other Class AA schools. The new rules’ purpose isn’t to force students to fox trot and waltz to “champagne music” and smooth jazz.

“As a principal, I try and stay in tune to what is important to kids. I know music is important to kids; it was important to me at that age,” Langohr said. “I am in no way going to take that away from them.”

But Langohr said she has an obligation to create an atmosphere, even at school dances, where all students feel welcome. She said the type of dancing that has been going on has kept some students away from dances.

“I feel bad about that,” she said. “One of our goals at Glacier High School is to have a school that all kids from all walks of life feel comfortable in. That includes participating in our activities.”

At previous dances, chaperones who witnessed suggestive dancing couldn’t do much about it, Langohr said.

“We were letting it, by default, go on. We can’t expect a chaperone to all of a sudden dive in there and take it on,” she said. “It’s not fair to the adults at the dance, and it isn’t fair to the kids at the dance.”

With the new rules, chaperones will be empowered to put a stop to dirty dancing.

“Students dancing ‘back to front,’ provocatively or inappropriately will be asked to immediately stop the behavior,” the dance expectations draft says.

If students continue to dance inappropriately, they will be asked to leave the dance. In some cases, students’ dance privileges may be revoked for the rest of the school year.

The rules apply to all students at Glacier High dances, regardless of where the student attends school, Langohr said.

“They are all under our dance rules, so to speak,” she said.

Langohr intentionally announced the new rules a month before the next dance to give students time to adjust their attitudes — and their moves, if necessary. So far, most of the feedback has been positive, she said.

“The interesting part that kind of reaffirms this is the right direction to go [is] I’ve gotten a lot of feedback from parents and students. It has been very supportive,” she said.

The new rules might encourage some students who might otherwise have stayed home to attend dances, but Langohr knows other teenagers won’t be pleased with the restrictions.

“I fully realize that there may be some students that this is not going to be a popular decision,” she said. “But it is the right decision. It may not be the most popular decision, but it is the right decision for the school at large.”

The school will inform disc jockeys of the new rules, Langohr said. While most DJs already know schools have lyric standards in place for acceptable school dance music, they might now need to consider the style of music they play.

“In fairness to the students, the dance music also plays into this. If your DJs play music that contributes to that style of dancing, what do we expect from our students?” Langohr said. “We need to do a better job with our DJs to make sure their music” helps students meet the new standards.

Student council members have suggested offering swing dance lessons to teach students other dance styles. Langohr acknowledged that the music videos they’ve seen likely have contributed to students’ inappropriate dancing.

But she maintains that setting high standards for student conduct is part of her job.

“I do think we have a responsibility to our students to set high standards — reasonable but high standards,” she said, adding that those expectations extend to school activities, including dances.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.