Students at an Iowa middle school say that officials are restricting their freedom to dance.

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About 200 students at Hoyt Middle School signed a petition last week protesting the rules.

"Grinding, touching -- they think it's going to be like stripping," Emily Brown, vice president of the student council, told the Des Moines (Iowa) Register. "Kids don't want to do that. They just want to have fun and dance."

Emily's mother, Marie Brown, believes that the students do not completely understand why the school rules are in place.

"But that's good," she told the newspaper. "We want to keep some level of naivete."

Hoyt Principal Billy Stone said that most rules, like those against moshing and crowd surfing are aimed at keeping the students physically safe. But inappropriate and suggestive dancing has become more of a problem in recent years, she said, because students see it on television.