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DOWNEY -- Some local high schools are asking students to sign a contract before hitting the dance floor, agreeing to keep it clean.
The goal is to curb the growing trend of sexually-explicit dances such as freaking and grinding.
Downey and Aliso Niguel high schools were among the first to draft the binding agreements, which parents and students must sign before a teenager can step onto the dance floor.
Downey High School principal, Tom Houts, says that inappropriate dance moves are becoming a growing problem in school-sponsored dances.
The contract at that school specifies "no touching breasts, buttocks or genitals. No straddling each others' legs. Both feet on the floor."
Houts says the dancing code of conduct is enforced by a group of chaperons known as the Freak Patrol.
Those found busting the wrong moves will be asked to get their freak on somewhere else.
In Ventura Unified, the high school contract reads: "When dancing back to front, all dancers must remain upright -- no sexual bending is allowed i.e. no hands on knees and no hands on the dance floor with your buttocks touching your dance partner."
Aliso Niguel High School Principal Charles Salter canceled school dances in 2006 in response to the "freak dancing" problem. He says the students initially gave him a difficult time. The solution was a two-page dance contract, which includes rules like: "No straddling legs; no bending over; no front to back touching/grinding; and no touching of breasts, buttocks or genitals."
Students are also banned from wearing provocative clothing. Girls can not wear bubble dresses, exposed underwear or low-cut dresses, among other items. Boys are banned from wearing hats, chains and canes.
The school's Web site has dress guidelines of appropriate dance attire.
"They may seem like they're a lot of rules but they're not really rules but those are regular types of behavior that one should expect from a young adult," Salter said.
Students who misbehave after signing the contract may be kicked out of the dance, have their parents called and lose privileges to go to future dances.
The contracts arose as schools became concerned about potential sexual harassment charges stemming from the explicit dances, which often ended up on online video sharing Web sites.
The goal is to curb the growing trend of sexually-explicit dances such as freaking and grinding.
Downey and Aliso Niguel high schools were among the first to draft the binding agreements, which parents and students must sign before a teenager can step onto the dance floor.
Downey High School principal, Tom Houts, says that inappropriate dance moves are becoming a growing problem in school-sponsored dances.
The contract at that school specifies "no touching breasts, buttocks or genitals. No straddling each others' legs. Both feet on the floor."
Houts says the dancing code of conduct is enforced by a group of chaperons known as the Freak Patrol.
Those found busting the wrong moves will be asked to get their freak on somewhere else.
In Ventura Unified, the high school contract reads: "When dancing back to front, all dancers must remain upright -- no sexual bending is allowed i.e. no hands on knees and no hands on the dance floor with your buttocks touching your dance partner."
Aliso Niguel High School Principal Charles Salter canceled school dances in 2006 in response to the "freak dancing" problem. He says the students initially gave him a difficult time. The solution was a two-page dance contract, which includes rules like: "No straddling legs; no bending over; no front to back touching/grinding; and no touching of breasts, buttocks or genitals."
Students are also banned from wearing provocative clothing. Girls can not wear bubble dresses, exposed underwear or low-cut dresses, among other items. Boys are banned from wearing hats, chains and canes.
The school's Web site has dress guidelines of appropriate dance attire.
"They may seem like they're a lot of rules but they're not really rules but those are regular types of behavior that one should expect from a young adult," Salter said.
Students who misbehave after signing the contract may be kicked out of the dance, have their parents called and lose privileges to go to future dances.
The contracts arose as schools became concerned about potential sexual harassment charges stemming from the explicit dances, which often ended up on online video sharing Web sites.
