Kanesville Elementary School in Ogden, Utah holds a sixth-grade dance on Valentine’s Day every year. The dance is meant to promote inclusion and kindness and traditionally students have been told by their teachers to say yes when a classmate asks them to dance.
But times have changed, and some parents were angry when they were told of the dance’s protocols this year. Natalie Richard told CNN affiliate KSTU that she was shocked when her sixth-grade daughter told her she couldn’t refuse a dance with a boy at the upcoming dance.
Richard continued, “It sends a bad message to girls that girls have to say ‘yes’ — sends a bad message to boys that girls can’t say no.”
The parents comments reached the school enough so now the rules are changing. The Weber School District shared that the rules for the dance have changed. According to their statement, attendance at the dance has typically been “voluntary but encouraged.” Students are asked to fill out a dance card with names of classmates they’d like to dance with. Half of the selections are the girl’s choice and the other half are the boy’s choice, and students can’t dance with the same person more than once.
But now, thanks to parents speaking out, the students will be free to say no.
