Talk about a lame-ass talent show~
Hamburg: No rock bands in talent program ~
School administrators, worried about liability, deny students' requests. Board members ask them to reconsider.
By Mike Trask
Reading Eagle
Hamburg High School student Greg A. Miller Jr. just wants to play rock music.
But district officials have told him and other students in rock bands that they cannot perform in a talent show later this year in the high school.
Officials told the students that rock music could lead to safety problems, including moshing a form of dancing in which people bump violently against each other.
“It becomes a question of liability,” President Virginia F. Fitzpatrick said at a school board meeting Monday night attended by about a dozen students. “There have been injuries that have occurred with moshing.”
However, Fitzpatrick said there have been no problems during previous shows at Hamburg.
The high school's drama club has held the talent show including rock bands during after-school hours the past two years.
No date has been set for the show this year.
High school Principal Elaine E. Eib told the drama club recently that this year's show could not include electric instruments, such as guitars. Bands only could perform unplugged, she said.
She did not attend the meeting Monday night.
After hearing about a half-hour of comments from three students and district officials, the board asked the administration to reconsider the decision.
Dr. William N. Kiefer, superintendent, said district officials soon will discuss the matter and report back to the board.
He did not know when a decision would be made.
Miller, a senior at the high school, gave the board a petition signed by 215 students and 13 parents who want to see rock bands play at the talent show.
“It's not vulgar,” he said about the music. “It's not hurting anybody.”
Taylor S. Gerhard, vice president of the drama club, also said she doesn't think the music will lead to violence.
“It's not ‘I'm going to break your neck and cut your arm off' stuff,” she said. “It's just rock.”
Some board members said they want the rock bands to play.
“I don't see any problem whatsoever,” board member Brooke K. Adams said. “We have more violence at football games.”
Board member Michael K. Garman also supported the rock bands.
“I can understand the feeling of people who perform,” he said. “They work really hard. I would like to see our students perform in front of their peers and parents.”
Gerhard said she believes it's important for the school to allow students to showcase all types of talent.
Plus, she said, students not typically involved in school events enter the talent show.
“This is segregation,” she said about the school not allowing certain types of music. “The kids in rock bands are outcasts. They feel left out.”
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LONG LIVE ROCK!!!! This kind of stuff really burns my ass! I hope the decision is overturned and the ELECTRIC instruments blow the roof off!
