Grinding Affects School Dances

There are many issues at a high/middle school dance. Kids are easily influanced by mass media as they explore their perception of self. We all know that kids explore and experiment with drugs, alchohol and yes, sexual identity. This includes how a teen dresses, acts and behaves in a given situaiton. Remember how you tested your parents and teachers limits?

There are many articles that announce, "Schools are canceling their dances due to "Grinding."" 

Huffington Post Article

Portland Press Herald Article of Portland High School

Maine Sunday Telegram Article of Yarmouth High

As an educator, I can feel the frustation of why we don't want to chaperone a school dance. There are behaviors that are allow and obviously some that are not allowed. It can be intimidating to stop teens from dancing the way they have learned from Mass Media. When I chaperone, I never feel intimidated about stopping this kind of dancing. I had one young lady approach me after the dance and said, 

"Thank you for telling my date that grinding on me was not appropriate. It's difficult to go to a dance with your friends pressuring you to dance this way. Not all of us what to dance that way." (Anonymous)

So, there are good students who want to have a good time. As we know with most behaviors, there are a few that will refuse to follow expectations, while most will comply. The VAST majority will comply! This is key. If the dance is designed and planned accordingly, dancing can change with the music and the atmosphere, leaving only a few students to be corrected. If a few students are corrected, the others will follow. This can often be dealt with by school administration or staff who have good reporte with this select students.

The planning process includes a multitude of variables: venue, lighting, flow, decor, music style, dress code, and most inportantly BPM (Beats Per Minute). With a talented DJ, they can control the flow of the dance floor with music's BPM. Most grinding occurs with 80-110 bpms. Changing the bpms and lighting, can effectively eliminate the grinding. This all requires planning and timing on the DJ's part. During your consulations, you'll get the opportunity to discuss how you can eliminate grinding at your school dances. 

I've (DJ Michael) DJ'd 100's of school dances. Like most DJ's, at some point the grinding affect sneaked  into the building and grinding prevailed. Now, he's mastered the Art of Eliminating Grinding without telling kids, "No, I can't play that song." Look to see if your date is availible for booking now.

Contact DJ Michael for more information about how to host a school dance with little to no grinding!