In conversations with friends and family, we often hear the question, “what’s wrong with kids today?” On Saturday, April 12, I witnessed one answer to this question. A friend and I were working at the Rose Springs Elementary craft fair. The entertainment was various dance troops from the area. In one of the dance groups, there were girls as young as 5 years old performing what I can only describe as appalling dance routines. These cute, beautiful, innocent girls were dressed by adults, taught to dance suggestively by adults and cheered on by adults. What happened to little girls being LITTLE girls? What was remarkable was the dance group that followed. These girls were dressed in full body leotards, tights and tutus and performed classic style ballet routines. This group was classy and elegant and danced like little girls should dance. As a society, we lament the loss of innocence in our children, yet we watch and cheer these same little girls that are dressed and dancing in front of spectators in a way that most adult woman would not dance in their homes all by themselves. What’s wrong with kids today? The examples and influence of adults is what is wrong with kids today. The grown-ups in their lives are teaching them this kind of performance is perfectly acceptable. Instead of dancing in a manner that was elegant and empowering for young girls, they were performing in a manner that is demeaning to young girls.
Dezi Webler
Grantsville