Walpole principal cancels school dances due to drunk students, ‘shocking’ dancing
He said intoxicated students were 'dancing in ways that shocks the teachers and adults.'
Citing underage drinking and intoxicated dancing that “shocks the teachers,” Walpole High School’s principal has canceled all school-sponsored dances this year except for the prom.
In a letter sent to parents, Principal Stephen Imbusch described how, during past dances, intoxicated students started throwing up in the bathrooms, “falling around the dance floor being held up by their peers,” and “dancing in ways that shocks the teachers and adults who are in charge educating and shaping the future of those students.”
“This behavior is fueled by the music, the lights, the ‘safety in numbers’, and the alcohol,” he said.
With such behavior going on, Imbusch said other students have told him they can’t continue attending dances, while faculty members have requested not to chaperone the events.
“I will not expose your children or my staff to this kind of behavior anymore,” he said. “Students know they are doing wrong when they consume alcohol before or during a dance. They need guidance in this regard, not complicity.”
Imbusch said that over the past two years, there have been five dances in a row at which students arrived under the influence or brought alcohol with them. Of the 33 drug and alcohol violations at the school in that time, 12 occurred at school dances, he said.
“With these statistics, it is impossible to sanction events that can possibly put students in such grave danger,” he wrote to parents.
The junior-senior prom will not be affected.
Imbusch said using a breathalyzer and searching students before the dances, as was suggested to him, would not “breed a positive culture.”
The principal told the community that he would welcome the return of the dances if he had a commitment from all students and parents that they would arrive sober and not bring alcohol or other drugs to the school.
“In the meantime, before one of your children gets hurt or mistreated on the dance-floor, gets assaulted after they leave the dance by an intoxicated student, or wraps their car around a tree, I maintain my stance regarding dances at Walpole High School,” Imbusch said. “I care deeply for your children. Let’s work together to keep them safe.”
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