Dirty dancing: Murphy High students get called to the office for sexual moves

MOBILE, Al.
Several Murphy High School students caught on video dancing in sexually explicit manners have been called into the office and told that's not how they should behave.
A video of the students' dirty dancing at prom on March 30 was posted on YouTube, but has since been removed. WKRG-TV5's website has some parts of the video, which shows female students grinding against male students. A male student gets down on the ground as female students simulate lap dances.
Murphy Principal William Smith said he and members of his staff identified the students -- there are nine or 10 of them -- from the video and called most of the students into the front office today. He plans to talk to the rest Wednesday, as well as to their parents.
"Most of these kids know better. They just got caught up in the moment and made some bad choices," Smith said. "They've admitted that they were doing some things they shouldn't have been doing."
Smith added: "What they did doesn't represent their character. We don't expect our students to be perfect, but we expect them to strive for excellence, to be the best they can be at all times, in the classroom, out in the community, even after they graduate, because they represent Murphy."
Smith, who was one of the chaperones at prom, said this was a small sample of the 800 attendees. Most acted respectfully and had a good time.
Murphy's prom was from 8 p.m. until midnight on a Friday at the Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center in downtown Mobile.
Twenty-six teachers were there, along with three police officers and five administrators.
Smith said he did not see this inappropriate dancing, and with 800 students there, the other chaperones missed it as well.
He said the dancing went on in the original video for about nine minutes.
For prom, he said, the school held an assembly focusing on substance abuse and safety, but not on dancing. Next year, they'll warn students about raunchy dancing.
Smith said he told the students today that they need to be especially careful in the age of video and social media. "People are watching you. They're watching what you do, what you say, how you treat people," Smith said. "They live in a society with YouTube, Facebook and Twitter and they understand social media, so they should understand that when they do something, their friends and everybody is going to find out about it."
Murphy, in midtown Mobile, is one of Alabama's largest high schools, with about 2,200 students.
Schools spokeswoman Nancy Pierce issued this statement: "The Mobile County Public School System does not condone inappropriate behavior. It is important that students value themselves and value others. When students behave badly it reflects poorly on the entire school, the students and parents. Students need to think before they act. "