Brickbat: Just a Girl Who Can't Say No

Alicia Hobson says her daughter Azlyn came home from a middle school dance in Laketown, Utah, excited that she got to dance with a boy she liked. But she was also upset that she had to dance with a boy she hates. Azlyn, 11, tried to politely turn the boy she doesn't like down, but her mother says the principal came over and reminded the girl that school policy is to dance with anyone who asks. Principal Kip Motta told a TV station that no one is forced to dance with anyone they don't want to, but he said the school requests that students dance with anyone who asks. In an email to Hobson, Motta said Azlyn should tell him before a dance whom she does not want to dance with and he'll try to stop any embarrassing situations or, he added, Azlyn could just stay home on dance days. School officials say the policy is aimed at making sure everyone feels included at a dance.