UPDATE: Exeter Students React to Dance Ban

A recent decision to cancel dances for the rest of the year at has received mixed reaction from some current and former students.

The move was made after there were several alcohol- and drug-related incidents at the last school dance.

Current student Chrissi Emery said she was disappointed.

"Most of us just go to the dance to spend time with our friends," she wrote in an e-mail message. "I don't think the school should punish everyone for some kids being dumb. Instead, maybe we should look at it as a problem ... and get the school some type of help (for students)."

In a posting on the Exeter Patch Facebook page, current student Tristan Anderson said it was a "bad" move, noting students weren't told of the move beforehand. It was announced during a held after school hours.

John Berlo, a 2009 Exeter High grad, said it's unfortunate that a few "bad egg" students have ruined it for the rest of the students.

"There should be a harsher punishment for those ... students that show up to the dances under the influence," he wrote in an e-mail message.

The last time there was talk of canceling dances at Exeter High was in 2009 when school officials determined students "grinding" up against each other while dancing was inappropriate.

"When it came to canceling dances because of 'grinding' I thought administrators were being too tough," Berlo said. "When it comes to administrators canceling school dances this time around, I fully support them.

"I feel as though students are getting worse and worse when it comes to illegal acts, and administrators must provide a (this approach as a) means of dealing with students. Hopefully (the) cancellation of the dances will wake them up as a whole."

Exeter High Principal Victor Sokul told WHDH-TV that dances at the school aren't safe if students have been drinking and doing drugs.

"I hate group punishments because it's not fair to the rest of the kids. But what we're doing is not working," Sokul said. "We need a breather and so do the kids."