Yes because we all know its the sign of the devil!

It's more amazing you think that is important.

Kids imitate Michael Jackson's moves all the time. Considering the kid was only 9 years old, it is doubtful he meant it in any inappropriate way. He probably saw it on T.V and thought it would be cool to do in public. Suspending him, makes it a much bigger issue than what it is.

Where do they come up with this stuff? How many kids got suspended from school last week in the USA? Is this news? I think it's telling that MSN is picking out a Catholic school.

Boberg said Lenny had performed similar Jackson dance routines the past two years at the St. Stanislaus event and that his performance this year had been approved at rehearsal by the WACS’ Parent-Teacher-Partnership.

Then this is stupid.

Eight pound, six ounce, perfectly formed Baby Jesus surely shuddered in his straw at this affront to Catholicism!

Greenwood, the Catholic Church does a good enough job making headlines on their own.

What strikes me here is that nearly 80% of black men desert their children either prior to birth or no later than their third birthday. This a problem. Yet here we are discussing a 9 year old for mimicking a grotch grab by MJ when I think what the crime was, was a person running the show who allowed a 9 year old to sing "Billie Jean is not my lover, the kid not my son". A song about denying the fatherhood of a child. THAT is the real crime I think. And whoever approved that song should be suspended, not the 9 year old kid.

I don't understand why things like this always seem to become an issue. When parents send their kids to a religious school, they do so knowing it is a conservative atmosphere. I would presume that's why they are sending them there in the first place. So then why do they get so upset when the rules are actually enforced? If you want your child to be able to do this kind of stuff, send them to a non-religious, public school where it isn't a big deal. I teach at a public school, and believe me, crotch-grabbing is the least of my worries.

'Up the Down Staircase,' Jessica?

What strikes me Robert is that you don't know what the heck you are tallking about. Where did you get that stat from on black men? Secondly that song is about 25yrs old, and am I sure know one is thinking about the lyrics in the manner that you are suggesting. Get off your soap box, the kid is just fan of Michael Jackson and was mimicking his moves. You folks need to lighten up a bit and not over analyze everything. I have seen kids perform this for years and never have I heard or seen anyone complain about the crotch grabbing.

Michael Jackson was inappropriate if not disgusting on many levels. It appears to be a family trait. However, he and his music are out there. It behooves parents to level with their kids and explain why Jackson was vulgar. If possible cover his pedophilia and suicide as well.

Kids aren't stupid. They deserve the truth.

People he's 9 years old, give me and him a break. I am so sick of the behavior police. Why don't you people get a life and leave little kids alone. Everyone has seen this move over a million times, Jiminey Xmas!!!!!

I do NOT understand how anyone can approve of their 9 year old doing a dance movement like the "groin grab". I do not think it is sinful, just not age appropriate; but then, I do not understand the term "common sense", because it seems to be anything but common.

What strikes me here is that nearly 80% of black men desert their children

No. That is nonsense and you know it. Did you make that statistic up on the spot? Plus, the article didn't even mention the kids race which means you are making an assumption based on a stereotype. Last I checked, Michael Jacksons music was enjoyed by people of all races.

Janis- I agree with you. This move, (and many others) was made popular by Michael Jackson over 20 years ago. This is not something new or original. He was copying a move that has been around for 20 years. Give him a warning and move on.

come on now, grabbing the crouch in public is distasteful & absurd; Show Some Respect ......

The thing is Janis, we're talking about a 9-yr-old boy vs perhaps a teenager or older. I agree the boy's parents are partially to blame because they let him carry on with that perhaps knowing full well he would get in trouble with school officials. I can't understand why they let him get away with it during rehearsals though and then lowered the boom on him because he actually did it during the school program unless they were hoping the parents would talk to him about that part of his act and tell him to knock it off.

I wonder if any of these whining azz people ever complain about the sports kids slapping one another on the azz or grabbing their crotch during a school game?

Gee, what next? If a man scratches his crotch in public in front of someone it will now be considered a crime.

GTFU America. I'm sure most kids have already seen MJ videos of grabbing his crotch over and over. Whoopie-effen-do.

So you don't mind if your son does his dance in front Grandma?

hmm...now if they'd suspend the priests as fast as they suspended that kid...hmmm....

MSNBC must be getting pretty desperate to keep posting stories like these!

I suppose we can be thankful the kid didn't emulate an American president holding a cigar!

Catholics. Taking the fun out of school since the Middle Ages...

Didn't God create groins?

One thing wasn't clear to me from the article. Did the kid actually do the groin grab during rehearsal, or was it a spur of the moment thing? He could have been dared by his friends to do it.

Nine-year-olds are much more precocious about things having to do with sex, vulgarity, etc. than many people realize. My grandson just turned 9 in January. Last week he told me he knows what f__— is. (He spelled it out. He wouldn't dare say it -- at home, at least.) He also gets upset because I constantly call him on it when he uses the expression "What the ...". I've told him no one knows whether he means "What the heck!" or many other words, some of which are not acceptable in his home or in any polite company. Guess that's why he had to tell me he knew what the "f-word" was.

Parents need to teach and monitor their kids, but there is no way to protect them from picking up the things their peers say and think is cool. The best we can do is set a good example and be clear about what is or is not acceptable and why.

Janice: I think that IS the problem. Parents DO just leave their kids alone when they should be monitoring and teaching them.

So he imitated MJ before...doing the moonwalk perhaps? If some see no difference between that and crotch grabbing, they need an anatomy lesson. Religion has little to do with it, it's a matter of simple decency, and being taught self respect. Entertainers aren't the best guides for setting examples of what's acceptable behavior for children.

It's too bad that public schools are so stifled, that they can say or do little to nothing to discipline for fear of being sued or arrested.

So its okay for a priest to grab a 9 year old's crotch but its not okay for him to do it to himself?

I think he got suspended for his own protection.

EROCK17 ...Perhaps the boy was suspended by a Principal protecting himself? ... You're likely ROCK solid on ...

That's what happens when a kid imitates something a nasty individual did. Hopefully this kid will learn a lesson here.

Ya know, the real issue here isn't the religion, child's race, age, or who came up with the move. The real issue is that someone or some group, that was apparently assigned to approve or disapprove the acts, told this kid it was okay to grab his crotch and the principal, who,I would assume, asked the individual or group to check things out, decided, after the fact, that the kid was wrong. Folks, the kid wasn't wrong! He did what he was told he could do and now he has been punished for it and that's just plain wrong.

If I were the individual or part of the group approving acts, I would have suggested he grab his belt. Yes, I do believe the move was inappropriate for a 9 year old, but, apparently, some folks didn't and that's their fault, not the boy's. The principal should have chewed the adults out, not suspend the child!

@ The Company

He may have been referring to the government statistic that 72 percent of black children are born to unmarried mothers. Not necessarily fatherless.

I believe the statistic for black fathers not being around their children was 25.3 percent last time I checked in the U.S. It's probably roughly the same for all other races in the U.S. though.

Oh, in case you're wondering, my source for the "72 percent" statistic was from Newsone.com.

@Robert, that's quite a claim. Please post your link to that information. While over 71% of black children are raised in single-parent homes, to claim that almost 80% of black men abandon their children is quite a leap (or lie). I've been involved in quite a few programs to help single women struggling to raise their children, and I can tell you that most of them do have their fathers involved on some level. As a matter of fact, I found myself wishing, sometimes, that a few of these fathers would not be involved with their kids (just my personal opinion), and I've seen a lot of stats on the subject, but I have NEVER head this one. So please post your resource.

What strikes me here is that nearly 80% of black men desert their children

Did you know that 38.683% of statistics are made up on the spot

@gcataldo

nice.

...and the thread is won on the second post! Good show!

WeThePeepsNet

I think the priests were mad they didn't do that move on him first.

lmao here, just don't tell any priest about it.

lol

If Michael Jackson was a pedophille he would have fit in just fine down at the catholic church,then maybe the compotetion would have been to much for him,I do not know anyother group with as many pedophilles as the catholic church.

Hell no 568603, your comment is by far one of the stupidest things I have seen posted on here, and there are a LOT of dumb posts, or maybe it's YOU that has the skeleton in YOUR closet? What was that you were saying about slapping little boys?

@Hell no-568603

You win the award for most idiotic post of the day.

even blacks knew, know he was a pedophile

Funny, the blacks in the jury didn't think so, neither did the Hispanics, nor the whites. Your point?

peteMT

"...and the thread is won on the second post! Good show!"

Actually, the second and many more posts were collapsed by the board gods that feel they should censor what everyone here reads.

Jackson was a perve and everyone knows it. He paid 20 million to silence the first accusation against him. Idiots freed him on the second, just like they did with OJ.

However, a 9 year old boy getting suspended for what his parents allowed him to see. Maybe they should suspend the parents from being parents.

@Bob-3374873

A lot of the children were told to say that MJ molested them. None of the allegations stood in court because they were baseless, and couldn't be proven.

Check the time stamps Bob. Seems Peeps was the same time as the first post. Possibly seconds later. Baco's below is the same as well.

keith ;; i would have won that talent show ... got those moves like jagger...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtfImnUDoes

That was my very first thought WeThePeeps.

It is a good thing the kid didn't do a one on one audition alone with any of the priests.

The so called "jokes" regarding the Priests, have long ago ceased to be funny or clever. I often wonder if those who must constantly be bringing that up are, in fact, "turned on" by dwelling on it. Just imagining/picturing it, talking about it, dwelling on it gets their hearts racing, or affecting another body part???? I'm not defending those guilty priests or condoning what they did, but it just makes me wonder why some posters want to keep "going there".

Perhaps the jokes regarding priests will stop when the catholic church starts doing something to own up to the problem, apologizes for previous errors, and also does everything it can to prevent it from happening again by maybe sending the guilty to jail instead of onward to abuse again.

The catholic church's handling of these multiple situations is unforgivable. The jokes are not the problem here, and such situations warrant ridicule in every form.

Boy, oh boy, this forum looks and sounds like a retards' convention. First of all, I'm not here to explain every thing blacks do or don't do. Blacks allow others blacks to go free, not because they think they are innocent, no siree, they letm them go free because to them is Miller time or if you prefer payback time. Don't tello me you guys and gals already forgot how whites allowed other white criminals go free and they were guilty as sin. The list is too long to publish here, but if you leave your bias, hidden agendas at your keyboards, you would understand more and jump to conclussions less. When I say black knew he is, was, I'm referring to the black comedians that bring it up any time the subject of pedophile comes to their minds. As for being stupid, well, pea brains, here I feel Einstein. Just imagine, those with a hidden agenda already forgot the pictures of naked children found in MJ's possession or the 30 million paid by MJ to the Philippine boy for keeping his mouth shut. As for that other retard, hypocritical to the nth degree, with worse skeletons in his closet, the statistics about pedophile in the catholic church are 2.7% when in other religions is over 3% and in the general population is way over 7% and let's not talk about incest, because those statistics in West Virginia hit the roof. Actually, it was that super coward of Wyoming that refer to them as the ground zero of incest. The only difference between the catholice and church and other churches is that lawyers go after the money and money, not morality, morality lynchers is what drives those morality chasers. But is hear your pain, there is nothing better to denigrate others, a la Newt Gingrich, when I'm 1000% sure that people here are worse than 1000 priests. Actually the term to describe those "children", "victims" that seem never to say no, continue going over and over like the energyzer bunny and only quit going when lawyers show them a retirement rainbow in the horizon. And up until now, I don't care how old, including children, they are, btu I know of no one that would not like to have millions in their bank accounts, except of course that infant in the Capital One commercial, because according to the graph, he is the only one that doesn't want more money, the rest of the world disagrees with him. But don't be too hard on him, I'm guessing he is a he, he doesn't even know his own sex, so it's understandable that he doesn't want more money.

Wow, your post manifests a couple of Deadly Sins there, patrick... ire and pride to name two, not to mention using 'street' yourself...

Well at least in a public school, he probably wouldn't have to worry about his teacher asking him to do it over and over again, until he was in a frothy gaze.

Actually - Patrick's description is exactly what goes on in Public Schools every day. Parents threaten lawsuits if their "thugs" aren't allowed to do what Patrick describes.

In one county play - the student performers did the "groin grab" in front of middle and high school kids - they were told not to do so by Teachers and Administrators. Parents of the audience were upset - parents of the perverts on stage though it was perfectly OK.

Patrick, same mentality when Elvis gyrated his hips and was cut off mid-waist on tv. Oh the shame of it all, the 'cult' uprising!! >.<

In Catholic school, you grab your nuts and get suspended. In public school, you Tebow and get suspended. Not sure which is more ridiculous.

the only thing wrong with the tebow thing was they were blocking the hallway while switching classes... i beleive if they stood off to the side it would of been ok.

So..........99% of all grown men grab and scratch their crotches all the time in public and this is ok. One little 9 year old boy mimics a move by Michael Jackson and he gets suspended from school. The final analysis....Boys, you can't touch "it" in public until you are an adult.

It is not okay, no matter the age of the person performing the act. It must only be in your realm of friends and family that 99% of grown men make this display because the people I know and associate with don't do it.

I think the larger point is it is a private school and if you don't like how they administer rules you speak with them in private. You don't go straight to the press. If you want your son to be able to administer to his privates then pick another school. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQNidNeit34

These school stories always tell one side because the school has to maintain privacy for both parties. You get the raging parents side and the schools appear draconian, especially with the public schools. They can't really say much because a civil rights lawsuit is usually coming.

You're right. The church staff idiots are just hung up over their own personal sexual conflicts.

So for all of you Catholic haters - bashing an entire religion is ok as you are doing here, but trying to enforce rules and expect children to behave with some sense of decency is wrong. Yes there were some pedophile priests, but the question posed in a previous post asking where do you find more pedophiles than priests? How about in the public school system. It happened when i was in school and is still happening, and they didn't and still don't do much different than the church did. Teachers were and still are allowed to resign and move on. So..... don't act like it is just a Catholic problem. It permeates our society and far to may people look the other way.

yes, it does permeate all over; HOWEVER, priests should have been held to a higher standard. My grandmother was excommunicated for getting a divorce from an abusive husband. Pope Leo sold indulgences because he used all the churchs' money on parties, including cakes where little boys would pop out. when there is so much abuse of children, a child being rude shouldn't be such a hysterical issue to the point he gets suspended AND it's on the news. let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

i saw it and Bryan Rickard, it is parents, liberals, and members of our society that are bringing any type of morals and what is or wrong for our country. It is pretty sad and pathetic that any person could approve of a nine year old grabbing his private areas. Any one who thinks it is ok should be seeing a psychiatrist.

People get more and more liberal and society suffers a moral collapse, the reason people pay to send their kids to private school is to get away from this, If someone doesn't want to accept the standards go to a public school and let your kids run around with their trousers below their butts, and maybe your daughter can get a reality show like teen mom, or Snooky,or even make their own friky video for U Tube, the problem is these actions become a part of the child when they grow up. the things MJ did in comparison to whats going on today are mild in comparison to what you can find out their today, that just goes to show you how things snowball, and how sickness spreads, I'm all for stopping it but I think it should have stopped along time ago. and to add a point in regards to some post about catholic schools Penn State is not one of them, and public schools are loaded with perverts more than you think! its our whole society that is sick, I wonder why? where do you draw the line it has to be somewhere.

It has nothing to do with liberals. I am a liberal and think that the school is in the right here. First, it is a Catholic school, not a public school, and what they say goes. Secondly, it is completely inappropriate for a nine year old to behave like that at a school function. I agree with your comment, that class needs to be brought back into our childrens lives. I dont see it as being immoral, but it was it very poor taste and disrespectful.

Suspension seems to me unwarranted. The 9 year old boy should be advised that a 'groin grab' is NOT appropriate behavior, even while performing. At 9, I'm sure he doesn't fully understand why it is objectionable. The adults who approved the act should understand, however. I think a suspension for something that had been approved is overeaction. An apology to those who attended is warranted. Meeting with the boy and his parents is warranted. Meeting with the adults who approved it is MANDATORY!

The kid grabbing his groin is the least of this schl's problems. The ppl who write the tuition checks aren't any brighter than the students.

What brain-dead parents in charge of this show approved the SONG?

Billie Jean's/Not my lover/She's just a girl/Says that I am the one/But the kid/Is not my son

Are these appropriate lyrics for a 9 yo to be singing/dancing to? Sex, teenage pregnancy, & pinning fatherhood on some chump. At a Catholic schl. How did this slip past the parents approving the acts?

your absolutely right Patriotic American... hell, we should probably just let him fondle himself on stage shouldn't we? damn uptight religious a-holes anyhow! O.o

Dancing leads to pedophilia?

So, because the kid grabbed his OWN crotch, that makes him a pedophile? That is as stupid as charging teenagers taking pictures of themselves with producing child porn.

I think Pro was just taking a humorous jab at MJ.

I didn't know you were confessing, pro. >.<

Is it the groin grabbing or the fact he is surrounded by priests that will make him a pedophile?

For Taziar. Actually, teenagers taking pictures of themselves and sexting them to others is considered child porn. Here read this: "Because numerous teens have been charged with sexting or possession of child pornography as a result of their school or the police searching their cell phones, know your rights about this issue and when the police can read your text messages." Or how about this other: "

In 2007, a Florida state court prosecuted a sixteen-year-old girl, A.H., for electronically sending nude pictures of herself to her seventeen-year-old boyfriend."

The court charged A.H. and her boyfriend with producing, directing, and promoting child pornography. Under Florida’s child pornography laws, A.H. faces a severe prison sentence and may be required to register as a sex offender for the remainder of her life if convicted." I thought I would let you know, because it's obvious that the law and you don't see eye to eye. This new morality witch hunt is going too far, but people are too stupid to do something about it. America, home of hypocrisy to the nth degree calls a minor a sexual predator and she has to bear that innocent prank for life, while war crimes and the killing of hundreds of thousands of innocent children by this "Christian and democratic" nation go unpunished. If this isn't hypocrisy to the nth degree, the hypocrisy doesn't exist.

Hell no you are only partially correct, while the florida law makes sending nude images of underage children a crime, there is no stipulation as to the age of the person transmitting the images...its not very likely they will fully prosecute her for sexting,...but they will likely make an example of her....there are plenty of reasons why a child should not send nude images on thier cell,...horror stories like the one where a man posed as a teenage girl and coned several teenage boys into sending nude images to him then he used those to blackmail them into having sex with him....fortunately he got busted,...as "fun" as this technology might seem to some,..its fraught with potential hazzards, and can ruin your life with one push of the send button....

as for this article,...the groin grab is inapropriate for a nine year old performing in front of an audience of catholic parents,...who ever gave the performance a pass should be repramanded...they only suspended the boy, its not a life sentence for gods sakes...if he got caught smoking or swaring or any number of other offensive things he would get suspended as well, rules are rules....he'll get over it.