On Oct. 20 of 2009, a letter to the editor of the Suffolk News Herald was published complaining about the ‘dancing’ that took place at the Nansemond River High School Homecoming dance.

“The ‘dancing’ was what in other circumstances would be called a sexual assault” the author stated. “Apparently, since “everybody does it,” she wrote, “school administrators just watched and enjoyed the show.”

The letter writer stated that her niece went to the dance and left early. She came home saying the DJ was playing inappropriate music, and all the students were “grinding” and participating in other inappropriate dancing.

Some say there were videos and pictures placed on social websites such as MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube; none have surfaced.

When the letter was published on the Suffolk News Herald’s website, it spread like wild fire. Students were taking time out of their classes to read what was being said about them and their school. Students made comments about the letter on the site, and argued with an anonymous user by the name of ‘OD.’

In one of his comments, OD stated, “Many of these ‘young ladies’ who choose to act out this way will surely become potential guests on the Maury show or end up like the two sisters who had babies the same day and are still in school.”

A lot of the female students in the school were offended by this comment and OD’s comparison. Young ladies fought back with OD about his comment.

“I don’t even know what else to say…” user kmoe07 stated “…it’s just the way we dance”. Students asserted that there was nothing wrong with their dancing; it’s a part of being a young adult in this century. That’s just how they dance, they said.

Some of the young ladies at the dance did display inappropriate behavior. Not all students were engaging in inappropriate activities.

While the adults were attacking students, they should have been recalling their own examples of inappropriate “dancing.” Remember the movie Dirty Dancing?

As for the administration, they did stop any inappropriate behavior they saw.

Everyone has a right to her opinion, but to talk about something that doesn’t involve you is wrong, and it’s wrong to state your opinion or make false accusations about students who have done nothing wrong. The way students dance have nothing to with their lifestyle, grades or personality. Dancing doesn’t define who they are as people.

The students of Nansemond River did an outstanding job of defending themselves, their school and the administration. Congratulations, Warriors!

Airial R. Gary is a feature reporter for The Arrowhead, the student newspaper at Nansemond River High School, where this column originally appeared.