Dance Team Disbanded

In tough economic times why would Jonesboro High School limit the employment opportunities of its young women by disbanding the school's dance team?

The kibosh came after parents witnessed the team's halftime performance during a January 13 basketball game and found the students' moves and grooves too edgy for the venue. The school forbid the women from practicing and performing for the rest of the year.

Watching the team's performance, in a now defunct You Tube video titled "The Sluts of Jonesboro," it's reasonable to see how some parents, meaning mothers, were offended. Why let their daughters give away what most men would pay for?

The stripper-esque dance routine, choreographed and executed by the students could look very good on a resume, for the sort of job opportunities that rarely require a resume when you look very good. In small towns like Jonesboro, a career as a "dancer" is as aspirational as any and more achievable than most.

Isn't high school is supposed to prepare students with skills they'll need to survive in the world? What makes the dance team's goals less valid than the basketball players, most of whom are far less likely to actually use their balling skills to support themselves or their family?
Jonesboro DanceTeam 2009