Throughout the decades there have always been dance moves that were considered vulgar and inappropriate. Starting with Elvis and his signature hip thrust, to hip-hop, moshing, and now… twerking?

What exactly is twerking? Twerking is a dance move mostly done by females moving their bottoms to the beat of music. Recently,  the dance move has become very well known among teenagers, especially after a YouTube video of pop star Miley Cyrus twerking went viral on a YouTube.

Many parents and authority figures see the dance move as sexual and inappropriate. Recently, at a San Diego High School 33 students were suspended for a twerking incident.  A fellow student filmed them doing the dance on school property with school equipment. He then edited the video, adding inappropriate music, and put it on YouTube.  Eventually all the students featured in the video were banned from prom, suspended from school for a week, and not allowed to walk at graduation. The punishment specifically arose from a contract students had signed agreeing that, “no school property would be used to distribute sexual or offensive material.”

Most of the kids who attend the school think the school and parents overreacted. They believe the punishments were unfair since the kids were just dancing, and no one was harmed or threatened.

The girls who participated in the video did not know it was going to be edited inappropriately nor that it was going to be put on YouTube. Others say the dance itself is so hyper-sexualized that anyone who saw it would immediately know it was inappropriate

History shows us that the response to this video is not unique to our times. When rock and roll started in the 50’s, many adults were disgusted and outraged with the new music and dance moves. Many teenagers were considered juvenile delinquents just because they were listening to the music, dressing differently, and dancing with what that generation considered “vulgar” moves.

So the real question is, should kids be punished just for dancing? Most parents and authority figures want to stop these new crazes because they believe they are corrupting forces. But when do the punishments start going too far?

When Miley Cyrus made her twerking video, no one really saw it as a bad thing, while many teenagers were suspended and had privileges taken away for doing the same thing.

Every decade, music changes and dance moves change, but we are always faced with this same problem. But there is another thing history shows us; no parent or school administrator can stop teens from expressing themselves.