MIAMI -- The administrators of a fundamentalist school say they will not allow students to attend a Michael Jackson concert next week because rock singers are 'unworthy examples for living.'
Jackson and his brothers perform tonight in Atlanta before continuing their 'Victory Tour' with concerts next Friday and Saturday in Miami.
But officials at Dade Christian School say students who attend either concert will be disciplined.
'Our students are not permitted to attend the Michael Jackson concert. Any students who do so will be disciplined accordingly,' said administrator James Virtue in a letter to parents.
'Because rock music is associated with dancing, drinking, the drug scene and other unacceptable behavior and because the writers and performers are unworthy examples for living, we believe DCS students should not listen to rock music,' the letter said.
'For this reason, we feel it necessary to inform you that our students are not permitted to attend the Michael Jackson concert. Any students who do so will be disciplined accordingly.'
E.G. Robertson, director of the fundamentalist Baptist school, said students who attend the concert will be given 15 demerits. Students who receive 25 demerits during a school year are expelled.
Some of the 600 students disagreed with the order, and Debbie Bordas, a 10th grader, said she would attend the concert anyway.
'I have tickets and I'm going,' she said. 'They say Michael's bad because he's a Jehovah's Witness.'
School officials said parents and students are required to sign an agreement every year to abide by school rules -- including a standing policy against anything connected with rock music.
Robertson said Jackson was no different from any other rock star.
'We certainly don't agree with his religious beliefs, but we don't adhere to any rock group,' he said.
