Students respond to twerking article

Letter to the Editor:

By Roxanne Kirwin and Larissa Todd, Ludington High School.

We are writing in response to the article Mason County schools not exception to twerking fad by D’Ann Rohrer that was published in the Mason County Press newspaper Thursday December 12th, 2013.

As representatives of the Ludington High school student council, we would like to offer a different perspective on the dance behavior occurring at the high school dances in Ludington. Twerking, as demonstrated by Miley Cyrus at the VMA’s, is not being mimicked by Ludington high school students. We do want to to address the difference between “twerking” and “grinding”. Grinding is a form of dancing that has existed for several years. To some, grinding may appear obscene, however the student council and LHS faculty do our best to limit the inappropriate behavior.

As facilitators of these dances, we walk a very fine line between the expectations of the student body, the LHS faculty and administrators, and the Ludington community. We apologize to those who are unhappy, yet it is a continuing effort of the student council to understand and satisfy the interests of all members of the students, parents, and community alike.

Earlier this week, the LHS student council filmed a video addressing the inappropriate dancing, and this video was presented to the entire student body Monday, December 9th. The problem has been taken note of, and the student council and administration is expecting a change in atmosphere at our next dance, this Friday, December 13th. This problem has already been addressed, but this article before our efforts could be appreciated.

We do believe that the dances offer a chance for the student body to come together as a whole in a safe and supervised area which is something we are extremely proud of, and plan on continuing. The majority of the student body conducts themselves in a respectful manner, and to criticize the student body as a whole based of the actions of a small group of students is both incorrect and unfair to the student body and the student council.

The Ludington High School takes pride in our school sanctioned dances and events. Though we are open to opinions on how to improve these events, we want to make it clear that twerking is not welcome at these dances, and that the dancing at these events is considered appropriate by most.

As D’Ann Rohrer stated in her article, we do encourage the parents to communicate with their children about what they feel is, and isn’t appropriate. As high school students we are aware of what is right, and what is wrong, but we can still appreciate some parental guidance.