Twirlers disciplined over "I Kissed a Girl" song

by Sandy Maple (Subscribe to Sandy Maple's posts) Oct 1st 2008 4:00PM

Categories: Teens & Tweens, In The News, Education

I've written before about Katy Perry's song I Kissed A Girl and the general consensus seems to be that it is no big deal. The song is basically about a girl having a few drinks and losing her inhibitions. She kisses another girl at a party and likes it. That's pretty much it. But the song has lots of detractors, including officials at Van High School in North Texas.

Three girls at that school were temporarily relieved of their twirling duties as a consequence for playing that song at a pep rally. School administrators say the girls broke the student code of conduct and will have to sit out two football games and one pep rally as punishment.

One of the girls, Jordan Downey, thinks the school is overreacting. "It's a song," she said. "It's just like any other song." However, Downey admits that prior to the pep rally, school officials suggested that perhaps that song was not the best choice. "They told us that it probably won't be a very good a idea, and then we decided, like, it's not a big deal, we'll just run for it, no one's going to care," she said.

While some parents agree with the school's decision, the twirlers have found allies in the band members. They are wearing stickers that read "no twirlers, no band" and the entire drum line is threatening to boycott the games if the girls aren't allowed to perform.

This story reminds me of my own days as a twirler in school. I once performed a solo at a pep rally to Rick James' Super Freak. That song is way dirtier than I Kissed a Girl and nobody said a word about it. Maybe if James had been singing about a kinky boy instead of a girl, things might not have gone so well.

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Comments (11)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

ThatHollie 10-01-2008 @ 4:35PM

The worst thing about this song is that it is so inferior to "I Kissed A Girl" by Jill Sobule.

Starfruit 10-01-2008 @ 9:40PM

How come all the strict rules apply to students (whether a catholic school, or school with strange rules) but those same places make it a necessity that the girls wear short tartan skirts and knee socks as a dress code? Something's wrong there.

Rebecca 10-01-2008 @ 10:11PM

I agree with the school officals on this one. I strongly believe that music influences our children. Of couse it depends on the type, but ALL music influences. I know children do not understand what the big deal is about some lyrics in this type of music. It may have only been for the fun of this event, but people look at that and represent the people involved by their actions. You need to have some kind of guidelines about what is appropriate for certain events. I don't allow my children to listen to certain types of music, I believe that what goes into them comes out. Wheither it be good or bad. If you put nothing but bad language and talk of immoral actions in eventally they will be acting on these things. If you decide to let this stuff enter in that is what comes out. This is just MY PERSONAL OPINION. Thank you and God bless.

mikki 10-02-2008 @ 10:44AM

You are entirely entitled to your opinion. However, if I read the article correctly, this was at a HIGH SCHOOL. Most people, if they have had doubts of their sexuality, have it figured out by high school. And, I'm sorry to tell you, at least half, if not a majority, of all high school students already go to parties and consume alcohol or smoke marijuana. This song didn't influence any of that - they did that on their own and have been for years. The song is amusing for some and it's popular (not to mention a beat that gets stuck in one's head). Personally, if I were a parent, I'd be more concerned about the overload of rap music they play at pep rallies and such. It's thrown on the students, and has much racier lyrics.

And I support you in monitoring what your children listen to, but once they enter adolescence, a lot of teens NEED to listen to certain music that expresses their feelings, be it melodious, acoustic songs or hardcore rock. When I was in high school, I used to love certain types of music my mother very much disapproved of. I borrowed the music from other people and listened to it in secret. It made me feel better- happy. And I was always terrified that if my mother found out the type of music I listened to, that she wouldn't love me as much. But I was still a good kid. I was friendly, polite, a little shy...I volunteered constantly, stayed out of trouble and away from drugs and drinking, and I got almost straight A's-- all the while naming alternative, emo, and hardcore rock / metal bands as my favorites.

I'm not trying to change your opinion; that's yours to keep. But I do hope this makes you think a little about another side to this that perhaps you didn't see.

peace and love,
mikki

Jenni 10-02-2008 @ 12:04PM

Rebecca, you are totally right.

Mikki, just because their doing those things doesn't make it right.

Our jobs as adults is to guide them through this life. Yes, they need to be allowed to make independant and personal choices and preferences; but they still need to be guided in choosing the right thing morally and ethically.

Me, I don't like the song. But that's my ADULT decision. If I had a teenager, I wouldn't stop her from listening to it. I would make sure that she understood that sometimes the things we listen to or watch may be ENTERTAINING, but are not necessarily something to add to the "things I want to do in my life" list. To my high schooler, I hope that I would have conveyed that message to her by then; but they still need reminding.

Are there things that I enjoy as an adult that don't hold up to my moral standard? Yes. But I have developed enough in life to understand that this is not something that I think is appropriate in my life. High school CHILDREN have not developed this ability in their thinking (scientific fact, brain development, and no I'm not going to site my source, do a google search).

Karen 10-02-2008 @ 9:09AM

If administrators didn't want them to use the song they should have told them absolutely not instead of it might not be a good idea. The latter suggests it is up to them to decide what is right and wrong, yet they came in an punished them after empowering them to make the decision.

Personally, I'd rather it not be used. But if you leave it up to them, but then don't like the outcome, they shouldn't be punished.

Paul Cyopick 10-02-2008 @ 9:15AM

Everything you do, see, or listen to is bound to offend someone. A school here in Toronto changed their team name from the Vikings due to their history of "raping and pillaging". Political correctness gone crazy again.

Wake Up Little Suzie was offensive in it's day. So was Elvis. Just let the kids play the song, do their cheers and be done with it.

Jamie 10-02-2008 @ 1:37PM

I believe most people don't listen to the lyrics of the song. I also believe if it were "I kissed a boy" there would be no dispute over the song. I have a song that I wanted to play at a city sponsored Halloween Party called, "I want Candy". A classic kids song right? Well, it has been a while since I had heard the song and I had no idea that the candy that was being referred to in the song was not a sweet treat, but a girl named Candy. If you google the lyrics you will see what I mean. The party is for children under the age of 8 and I am having to back off of a classic as to not offend the parents. The kids won't get that it is not about sweet yummy treats. My 4 year old loves the song. But, it will just take that one parent who decides the song is inappropriate and start making noise to ruin it for the rest of us. I would love to play the song, but the risk is too great. I have put too much time and effort into planning this party.

I think the girls should not be punished. I think it is silly that a simple lyric about a kiss is just plain homophobic and that view should not be represented in our public school systems. I am heterosexual without a doubt. But that does not mean that I can't respect other people's lifestyle choices. I believe this is not just about a song lyric. I believe a song about girls kissing boys would have been allowed. What do you think?

M00dybl00s 10-03-2008 @ 8:38AM

I think the punishment was for disregarding a 'suggestion' from a figure of authority. If you're employed, and your boss tells you he 'suggests' your idea is 'not the best choice' but you do it anyway - he's not going to be happy with you. Suggesting it isn't a good choice is the way one adult would try to discourage another adult's actions. The twirlers were pushing their boundaries to see what they could get away with, and they found out. It's a good life lesson for them.

vandal 10-05-2008 @ 2:55PM

OMG i go to this school wow its just a song if they get mad over this song they need to go walking in our halls and u can see plinty of "i kissed a girl and i liked it" so lets just see what happens our next pep raliy

Jodie 10-27-2008 @ 4:50AM

I am a band parent at Van High School and I know these girls very well. In all the stories I have been reading, I am hearing a lot from Jordan but nothing from the other two girls. One of the girls told me that they did something stupid and they deserved what they got. She said that they learned their lesson and that is that! This story has been blown so out of proportion I can not believe it! It is NOT TRUE that the band members wore stickers saying "No Twirlers No Band". It is also NOT TRUE that the entire drum line, who by the way consists of 4 people, 3 boys and 1 girl, threatened to boycott. The fact of the matter is not that "She kissed a girl", the main point is that Van High School Pep Rallies do not play songs about drugs, drinking or sex whether homosexual or otherwise. Just as back in my day as a drill team member we did not dance to songs like "I want your sex" and "When I think of you I touch myself". There aren't just highschool students who attend the pep rallies. Children of all ages are present at different times. The girls who are 1 senior and 2 freshman are smart girls who are mature enough to handle the responsibility of choosing appropriate music for a school function. They had a lapse in judgement and they paid the price for it. They want to get on with their lives and are sick of hearing about it!