A Dad's Perspective on Playdates
Bagged Salad Recall Sparks New Fears
Help Dying 4-Year-Old Fulfill His Bucket List (VIDEO)
Melissa McCarthy & Sandra Bullock's Buddy Cop Movie
Do Working Moms Have It Easy?
Your Morning Coffee Could Save Your Life
Join the Fight Against Toxic Kids' Products
8 Summery Sweet Popsicles You Can Make at Home
Guy Gets Chest Waxed on National TV (VIDEO)
14 Ways to Be a Happier Mom
How Tarot Cards Cured My Nightmares
Robin Gibbs Dies: 5 Greatest Bee Gees Songs (VIDEOS)
A User's Manual for My Daughter to Remember Me By
Stupid Reason #768 Kids Get Suspended From School (VIDEO)
Mom Confession: I Never Wanted to Be a Mother
Poor Lenny Boberg. The 9-year-old from Winona, Minnesota, just wanted to impress his friends and family with a killer rendition of "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson. He studied the King of Pop's moves and tried to replicate them just as Jackson did, leaving no move untouched -- even the infamous crotch grab.
To say the educators at his school -- a Catholic school, mind you -- didn't react kindly is an understatement. In fact, they suspended him saying it fell into the category of "gross misconduct." Watch for yourself and see what you think. The following video is a little blurry, but you can't miss his controversial moves.
First of all props to him for most of his moves. He's a good dancer, but did he really think that was going to fly at St. Stanislaus? Even if he did, his parents should have known better and tried to stop him. Little girls dancing provocatively are prevalent enough, and it's not okay for little boys to do it either, even if an adult legend once did.
His mother, Mindy Boberg, is upset at how the school handled it, and is reportedly meeting with the school today. On Facebook she wrote:
[Lenny] is heartbroken. He worked so hard on this and then to have your principal scream at you immediately after.
Whether there was actually "screaming" isn't known, but the school did send out a note to parents apologizing for "one act that was clearly inappropriate." Boberg disagrees and told the Winona Daily News that she doesn't understand why he was singled out when other students performed in their boxers and "shook their tail feathers."
I'd have to see said shaking of tail feathers, but boxers are pretty much just shorts, so I see pretty big leap between those as a costume and a little boy grabbing his private parts on stage. She says he's done so several times at other similar events without issue, and that no one objected when he did it in rehearsal. IF that's the case, that does seem a bit odd, but my question is why would she let her son do that regardless? His routine would have been great without it, and he didn't have to go there. It's in poor taste, if nothing else.
That said, I don't know that suspension was the appropriate way to handle it. It's not really the boy's fault to know what's acceptable at this age -- it's up to his parents to teach him. Clearly that hasn't happened.
Do you think Lenny's dance routine was appropriate? Do you think the school overreacted in suspending him?
Image via Sean MacEntee/Flickr
Backstage at Mamma Mia! with Irene Bunis
Vampire Sex and Vajazzling (it's...
Raising Digital Kids
Best Father-Daughter Dance Ever!
Comments (16)
While I usually agree with Rhonda I have to hugely disagree this time.
This is just a child dancing to a pop idol and he did great! It's just dancing! So there was a crotch grab? That's one of his infamous moves and the child didn't mean anything sexual by it! It's not like he went up there and did a strip-tease or anything. People are way overreacting to this, including the writer.
This is a CATHOLIC SCHOOL. As a Cath School Mom, there's a reason I send my son to one, instead of a public school, and one of those reasons is the morals education that is modeled and taught on a daily basis.
This song is completely inappropriate for an elementary school performance. And while the kid is obviously an excellent dancer, there are plenty of other songs that he could have performed without controversy. "Thriller" comes to mind, if he wants to use a Michael Jackson song. (pedophile suspicious aside)
This should have been caught by mom first. And if she didn't stop it, it should have been caught when he proposed it. The song is about a child born out of wedlock - not something the Catholic Church condones - which makes it inappropriate. If it was missed there, then it should have been nixed during dress rehearsals (and they have dress rehearsals - our school just went through this).
Once it made it to the stage, it's passed all of those levels of approval. And unless the kid presented through all those levels with "Singin in the Rain", and changed everything at the last minute and nobody knew, he should not have been suspended - because he had approval.
Ponychaser...I have to agree. The setting was not appropriate, but the reaction was crazy. Whenever my children have had even a public school talent show the kids had to practice and perform in front of whomever at the school was in charge of the show and if there was something that needed to be changed, the student had to change it. For instance, the year my girls wanted to use a song that included the word "redneck" and I guess that is racist??? So, we changed it. I didn't see a problm with the music, but someone at the school did.
Suspending a 9 year old for not having excellent decision making skills is the main issue here. And @ Rhondaveggie...not everyone finds Michael Jackson's music or persona offensive or thinks he is a child molester. In fact, that is not widely assumed either. There was nothing overtly sexual about the dance. One move in the dance was innapropriate and the song choice was wrong for the setting, but other Michael Jackson songs could have been very appropriate.
it was cute but it should have been for home only. not for his school. i love MJ to death but there is a time and place for his type of dancing. upset parents would be expected. i loved it and thought it was very cute.