Patch Asks: Should Father-Daughter Dances Be Banned?

Father-daughter dances are a tradition at many schools and community centers in towns across Massachusetts.

But down in Cranston, R.I., school officials there say they have banned father-daughter dances after a complaint from one mother, according to various reports on Cranston Patch.

The move came after Cranston School Superintendent Judith Lundsten received a letter from the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of a mother complaining that she had not be allowed to attend a father-daughter dance with her daughter.

Apparently, the federal Title IX legislation that bans gender discrimination actually has an exemption for activities such as father-daughter dances. But Rhode Island law does not honor that exemption, Cranston Patch reports the superintendent as saying.

Does the ACLU have a point? Should father-daughter dances be banned? Or opened up, instead, to parent-child dances? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.