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Don't miss a beat as they bring back the dancing

By Wang Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-11-09 10:11

The first time I held a boy's hand was 20 years ago. It wasn't my first awakening of love or anything like that, but the first time I participated in a group dance.

A group of more than 100 children aged 6 and 7 were divided into two groups. Each group stood in a circle on the school's playground with boys on the outside and girls inside. Every student paired up with someone from the opposite sex.

When the music started, under the guidance of a physical education teacher, we stepped, clapped, spun and made different moves simultaneously with the rhythm.

The 20 minutes of group dancing was my favorite part of each day. I had so much fun dancing and enjoying the folk songs. I got to know everybody in my grade. And, most importantly, I had my first male friend.

I used to be a shy little girl who would blush if I looked at boys. But after I had a male dancing partner and he introduced his male friends to me, I started talking to boys or had friendship with them.

But all good things must pass and the good times always fly the fastest. Group dancing was suddenly halted one morning when we ran to the playground to get ready.

The school principal told us we needed to try something new.

Instead, we started to do morning excises and Tai Chi - a traditional form of Chinese martial arts - every morning. We still stretched our bodies but the fun was gone.

When I grew up and understood how the adult world operates, I learned why they stopped the group dancing. It was because some teachers and parents were worried that contact with the opposite sex through such things as holding hands and waists might result in early love.

In most Chinese educators' and parents' eyes, the only thing a student should be working on is her studies, having a relationship with a student of the opposite sex could develop into a teenage love affair and that is pure evil.

But based on my experiences, I think such worries are unnecessary. Group dancing is a healthy activity, which will surely bring fun to today's children as it did to us.

The reasons leading to puppy love are complicated. But proper sex education is thought to be an efficient way to eliminate the curiosity of children toward the opposite sex and prevent early love.

It has been reported that 6 is the most appropriate age for students to receive sex education, but most Chinese children received it after age 15, if at all.

Most Chinese parents are likely to change the subject if their children ask them about sex, or even scold them for asking in the first place. Even teachers shy away from students who are eager to learn about the subject.

Complaints are on the rise among middle school students that they are not getting enough sex education from their teachers, who either skip over the section in textbooks or ask students to read the books by themselves.

One survey has suggested that 75 percent of young Chinese learn about sex through pornography or porn websites, and computers certainly offer young people the chance to find out something about sex in private.

Recently, Beijing education commission revealed that it was going to promote group dancing among primary and middle school students again next year. But some schools immediately raised concerns that it might lead to teenage love affairs.

I hope teachers and parents who are worried about such things can change their attitudes and that group dancing can be carried out once more.

Group dancing can nurture students' social and communicative ability and help them build a healthy relationship with students of the opposite sex. After all, dancing is a fun activity.

I hope that I will soon be able to see the smiling faces of groups of children holding hands and dancing again in the playground, just as I remember doing in my good old days.