Rio Americano High School made Fox News the other day in an unflattering way. Rio student John Butterfield wrote an opinion article for the school newspaper criticizing what he called "sexually explicit dance routines" by the school's song team during Rio's September Aloha Rally. Sacramento's News 10 aired a story about the opinion and the dance routine and somehow a tape of the gyrating teenagers showed up on Fox News nationally.
As high school cheerleading routines go, the dance was pretty tame. The Rio Americano song leaders wore long black pants and sleeveless pink blouses cut high well above any cleavage, and no bare midriffs showed. The raciest part of their routine, when they bent over and shook their butts at the audience, could and should have been left out.
With the dance routine running on a continuous loop as they talked, Fox New's Bill O'Reilly and two female commentators turned it into one of those "tsk, tsk, what's America coming to?" TV talk show moments.
To its credit, the Rio Americano High School community has not ignored the negative notoriety nor has it allowed itself to become a hapless victim of the culture wars. It's responded in a number of commendable ways.
To read the complete editorial, visit The Sacramento Bee.
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