For those who may otherwise find the story hard to follow, Urban Dictionary defines the verb twerk as “to work one’s body, as in dancing, especially the rear end.” Of more import is the definition given by Scripps Ranch High School in San Diego (viz., obscene and sexually suggestive) as well as the actions school officials have taken toward 33 seniors who made a video of themselves twerking. All have been suspended and barred from attending the prom and commencement.
NBC News San Diego notes that the video was created by students enrolled in a media class at the high school. Thirty-two students gyrated while another used school property to video record the group. Later, the student used school editing equipment to add music and post the clip to YouTube.
Jack Brandais, a spokesman for San Diego Unified School District, refused to comment on the suspension, saying the district does not discuss student discipline, but invited interested parties to peruse the section of the district website that outlines the suspension appeal process.
One student who participated in the twerk video wrote on Twitter:
Suspended, banned from prom, and prevented from walking at graduation all because of an awesome twerk video. I don’t understand.
Another attempted to rally support for the suspended students by organizing a “twerk-in” at lunch last Tuesday.
A parent who spoke with NBC expressed the view that the school should have used the incident as a teaching moment to remind students that when a person is videotaped, he never knows where it’s going to go. With reports surfacing the same day that 62 percent of high schoolers in Montgomery County (Md.) flunked their algebra final, it seems there are more critical teachable moments the nation’s schools are ignoring.
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