A question posed the other day on Facebook asked why square dancing was included in physical education classes. The question was, more specifically, about why fourth graders were square dancing in physical education classes. My answer was based on having had square dancing taught when I was in the seventh grade. The classes went a long way towards teaching basic social skills to boys and girls undergoing the changes brought about by puberty. At least that’s the way I look at it over my shoulder. It was useful in that it was one of the first times us seventh-grade boys came to the realization that girls didn’t have or pass along the dreaded “cooties!”
That being said, there is nothing filthier than the mind of a seventh-grade boy.
Seventh-grade is about the time when certain changes start happening in our bodies. Formerly flat-chested girls start to develop breasts, something noted by seventh-grade boys. Seventh-grade girls are well aware of the reactions of seventh-grade boys and some of the, shall we say, less gifted of the girls attempted to “pad their resumes.” There were several instances of boys telling other boys about seeing bits of tissue peeking out of the shirts of certain girls. Those certain girls usually were friends with other girls who developed at a faster rate. They just wanted to keep up.
I found that the girls worth talking to were unconcerned about what other girls thought. Flat-chested or quickly developing, it didn’t matter to me. Much. I was surprised when a girl I met up with at a seventh-grade mixer showed up in a dress which hinted at her bosom not being augmented by tissue. Of course, I was asked about it by one or two of the other boys, but I said nothing. She had become too good a friend to betray her trust.
Many of the other boys were dealing with issues of their own, including nocturnal emissions and communal showers after gym class where they were noticing that they had hair “in places where they didn’t have hair before.” There were gross jokes about parts of the anatomy between the shoulders and the knees of both genders, as well as size comparisons not usually mentioned in polite company.
It was square dancing which became the equalizer. The division between the girls’ side and the boys’ side of the gym was gone. Had something to do with basketball. And the entire gym became a dance floor. We’d pair up, form squares, and learned the basics, all while learning valuable social skills and generally having a good time. For once, some of the filthy minds of the seventh-grade boys were tempered by having to interact with seventh-grade girls with (undoubtably) similar mind sets.
I put aside square dancing for a couple of decades, coming back to it when the first spouse suggested we take square dancing lessons. We had fun for a while, enjoying the company of other dancers who would burn off calories, only to get them back by stopping at the Big Boy on the way back home.
It has been a couple of decades since. The current spouse and I have said something about getting back into square dancing, but the discussion was short. Nothing against it – we’re not sure if we want to invest the time at this point in our lives.
And about seventh-grade boys… well, there’s a saying out there about the difference between men and bonds: “Bonds mature.” Not all men are immature as seventh-grade boys. I’d like to think I’ve matured. However, there is still a part of me which harkens back to the day!
(Notice the evil grin at the top of the page!)
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bdharrellauthor 