SERIOUSLY! Where the heck are these girls’ parents??

Claire and her dance team had a competition yesterday and every time I walk into one I want to believe this time will be different…

I sat in stunned and horrified silence as 14, 15 and 16 year old girls bumped, gyrated and practiced their stripper moves. I will ask again ~ where the heck are these girls’ parents? What kind of parent believes it is appropriate for these girls to dance like strippers? SERIOUSLY!?! I guess maybe their parents believe it’s good training in case that education thing doesn’t work out for them…kind of like an apprenticeship for working in a nude-y bar.

I want to make sure I am completely clear in saying the difference between our dance studio and some of the others is HUGE. Like in all past competitions, the girls from our studio stood out with their classy outfits, appropriate make-up, slick buns and crisp routines. Our girls were well rewarded for their hard work and I couldn’t be more proud of them. Their routines are well executed and incredibly entertaining. There was not a bump, a grind or a gyrate anywhere to be found in any of the routines from our studio. It was easy to spot the girls from our studio…in a very positive way.

Yes, our girls were well rewarded for their on stage performances but other young dancers who gyrated around on the floor were rewarded as well. That bothers me. Their parents abdicated their authority in allowing their daughters to parade around like a bunch of trollops but the judges have some culpability in this as well. Why do the judges reward girls for dancing like that? I don’t know what kind of person, parent or judge, thinks it is a good idea to reward young teenage girls to strut, roll around on the floor and shimmy up and down a pole like they were well trained at stripper school.

Am I missing something here? Is this all good in the name of theater? Am I just an old fuddy, duddy? I would rather believe I am here to protect my daughter, and others, from growing up too fast and becoming sexually aware before her time.

Oh, for the love of my children…