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Just what we need. High School students trying to shut down a strip club.

shadowcat

Atlanta suburb

For years, the Paramount Gentlemen's Club in New Westminster[BC, Canada] has been offering adult entertainment without much attention.

But a group of Coquitlam high school students is about to change that, using the power of the pen.

As part of a social justice class project, a group of Dr. Charles Best Secondary students will be heading to the Royal City in order to gather signatures for a petition calling on politicians to shut the strip club down.

About 50 students from the school are set to meet Saturday at Sixth Street and Sixth Avenue in New West, where they will set up information tables and break into groups to try and get signatures from residents.

Teacher Ken Ipe said the Grade 12s decided to focus on the Paramount because some of them have friends who frequent the club.

The club is open to 18 year olds because it does not have a liquor licence or serve alcohol.

Ipe suggested the club is catering to a younger clientele, including university students and even high school students.

"We think that sexism is not a healthy part of society and I think that strip clubs are a reminder that blatant sexism is alive and well in the culture," he told The NOW.

Specifically, the petition is asking New Westminster city council to reconsider the Paramount's licence and instead consider the effect strip clubs have on the culture of a community.

Ipe said the students aren't expecting to transform society with their efforts, but rather see the petition as a small step in recognizing women as equals and not objects.

He noted the class has garnered support from some Coquitlam politicians, including Coun. Selina Robinson and Trustee Gail Alty.

The club's website bills the Paramount as "Metro Vancouver's premiere gentleman's [sic] club and the cities [sic] ultimate experience in adult entertainment."

The website also boasts the Paramount has more dancers working than any other club in the city.

Ryan Lepper is one of the students taking part in the class project.

He argued strip clubs objectify woman because they give the men visiting the impression women are just objects meant to be bought and sold.

"It sexualizes them by saying that they are only objects meant to pleasure men, and we don't want girls growing up in a world where they are viewed that way," he wrote in an e-mail.

He said the plan is to take the petition to an upcoming city council meeting for a presentation.

Lepper also noted the class did not contact the club in regards to the petition.

For safety reasons, the students decided not to set up in front of the club during its nighttime business hours.

Calls to the Paramount for comment were not returned by The NOW's press deadline.


Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Shut+do…