For schools in the Bay Area and those across the nation, the popular dance style of freaking has increasingly become an area of concern and has staff members, parents and other adults struggling to crack down on it, ultimately proving to be a difficult feat.
From dealing out detentions and suspensions to canceling dances, schools all over have tried different ways to put a stop to freaking.
“[We] have ‘freak police’ but they’re just students and don’t really do anything. Sometimes, [the teachers] break people apart, but mostly they just talk to each other,” said Los Gatos High junior Kristen Lee.
Lynbrook senior Anna Chou, who said that students dance in the same way at her school, sided against implementing schools rules against it, echoing the opinions of many of her peers.
“You can’t stop kids from freaking by controlling them or setting laws against them,” said Chou. “If you do that, the kids will just do it even more. Teachers [and parent chaperones] at our school just push students apart and [say] ‘don’t do that’. That’s basically it.”
After being interrupted by chaperones, Monta Vista senior Jonathan Chen told The Falcon that students “just wait 30 seconds and go back to doing what they were doing before. It doesn’t really work.”
However, many other neighboring schools have already taken active steps towards curbing this trend. In addition to listing all the policies for school dances clearly, Archbishop Mitty High School Dean of Students Jim Fallis said he adamantly enforces rules in several ways.
“[To prevent] inappropriate dancing, we [first] communicate the expectations for the students early. [After that], they are assigned a Saturday detention, and the parents are notified with a letter,” he said. “They are warned that if it happens again, they will lose the privilege of going to the next dance.”
Fallis understands students’ need to have fun at dances, but he believes that too often, students just “do what they see.” His solution is that schools help their students learn how to dance in a more appropriate manner.
“I’m not talking about the administration getting up there, but [maybe] students teaching [other] students,” said Fallis. “[For example], the show America’s Best Dance Crew. They’re not bumping and grinding. Why don’t the students do that? Because they don’t know how.”