I would like to start off by saying “thank you.” Thanks for destroying the best-kept secret we high schoolers have, or should I say had.

With your story and editorial regarding the ban on “grinding” in Portland and many other high schools, parents everywhere now know what they hadn’t known about school dances (“School officials should crack down on dirty dancing,” Oct. 22). We fear a bleak future for such dances.

There was a recurring theme in your articles. It appeared that one of the main reasons that dances were going to be changed was safety.

Fair enough, but I happen to have a counterpoint. The fear that girls will feel uncomfortable during dances is based on the assumption that girls cannot think for themselves. Parent perceptions of their daughters and sons are completely wrong.

You blame teenage boys for making girls uncomfortable. Perhaps you are making false assumptions about your daughters. Apparently parents feel their daughters are too weak and helpless to defend their moral values. Are you serious?

This is an unfair assumption. You must be aware of that old adage regarding assuming. Your belittling view of teenage girls is demeaning, but there is an equally heinous stereotype being cast on the other side of the gender spectrum.

Teenage boys are portrayed as aggressive “sex fiends” who only want to “get up” or “go down” on helpless young ladies regardless of their opposition. I, for one, have desired to dance at my school, but have felt forced to grind by social pressures and the Western media’s definition of masculinity.

The bottom line is this: Grinding is not the evil here. Sexual stereotypes held by your generation along with the media bombardment of sex is the true crime. Please don’t punish us for that.