Harlem Shake Suspension! Teens Disciplined For Racy Dance Trend Vid

A Harlem Shake suspension has bummed out some Michigan teens, as their racy interpretation of the bizarre internet dance trend landed the students in hot water with school — despite what they believed was a teacher’s okay.

The Harlem Shake suspension occurred in Highland, Michigan, and, if you’ve seen any of the videos, you can immediately imagine why. In part one of the videos, a single dancer (usually with a helmet, hat, headgear of some sort or mask) begins doing a distinctive move in a seemingly incongruent place.

During the second portion of the thematically similar dance clips, the participants generally all jump in, engaging in the most attention-grabbing antics possible and often mimicking coitus, to be blunt. It’s easy to see how a Harlem Shake clip could result in a suspension, but the teens suspended say their teacher sanctioned their viral video efforts.

A huge group of more than 30 students were suspended over the Harlem Shake clip filmed in a Milford High School classroom, and, while the stunt will likely go on their permanent records, some don’t regret the video.

Anthony Dawson, 18, was one of the Harlem Shake-ers suspended — depicted, as USAToday says, dancing with his duck Mordecai, he was banned from school for five days after the clip didn’t sit well with school officials. Dawson said it was amusing, but not the best move:

“It was a really bad decision looking back. It was fun to do, but we got in a lot of trouble.”

Kim Root, spokeswoman for Huron Valley Schools, told the paper the Harlem Shake suspensions were necessary:

“With increased access to social media by our students, we cannot take this activity lightly … We hold our students to a very high standard, and therefore they must be held accountable for their actions.”

At least four other high schools have had Harlem Shake suspensions of their own as the dance craze rocks YouTube.