Colton High School opened in 1895. It is one of the oldest high schools in the Inland Empire. In this daily feature, we celebrate Colton High’s rich history.

In 1984, as break dancing swept the Inland Empire and San Bernardino areas, Colton High’s Pepper Bough had some choice words to say.

The paper reported that in malls across the counties, as dancers were breaking down and having fun, a lot of residents were annoyed. It got to the point the City of San Bernardino considered outright banning break dancing in public areas, even going so far as wanting a law where a permit was needed to dance.

Throughout Colton, strong opinions were expressed. Principal Rollin Grider did not have a political opinion about the dancing, but made it clear that “the purpose of school is for education, and I wouldn’t favor any activity that would be counterproductive to learning.”

Ty Cavalles, class of 1987, said, “I think there is going to be a lot of fighting because of this law. People used to take out their aggressions by fighting, but now they do it by breaking.”

In an editorial in the Pepper Bough, the editorial staff compared the dancing law proposals to George Orwell’s novel “1984.” “When a person is restricted from doing such harmless things as dancing in public, the makers of that law are just a small step from the prophecy in George Orwell’s ‘1984.’”

One teacher brought a little levity to the issue. English teacher Mr. Robert C. Bridges said, “I don’t really care. I don’t plan on break dancing.”

Ultimately a compromise was settled on that allowed public dancing and all was well.