Why is it that belly dancing classes are usually 16+?

Question:

Why is it that belly dancing classes are usually 16+?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: As a bellydance instructor I usually only do 16+ for classes but will offer private instruction to those who are younger. Ocassionally if I feel a younger dancer is commited enough end will do well in the classes I will allow for it however the reasons we do our classes at 16+ are:
1. 15 year old girls(and younger) often do not join for exercise and usually join to learn how to be "sexy" and dance like Shakira. However when they find out how hard it is many give up because they have not become an instant Shakira. This takes up our studio space and our time and takes away from our other students because for every additional student we have to split our one on one instruction between them.
2. Often younger girls have a hard time following the pace of an adult based class and may become bored. Us older women (like 25+) tend to take longer to learn moves usually and young girls are easily bored when the instruction pace becomes slow. Because of this they also often become distracting in the class as a way of reducing boredom.
3. In an adult class we sometimes get talking during warm-ups and drills and sometimes adult language comes up so if there is a younger person in the class and they hear it and tell their parents sometimes the parents get all upset about it.
4. Some instructors (not myself) do not instruct anyone under 16 because they are concerned with the amount of sensuality (not sexuality mind you the two are different) that younger girls will be exposed to and worry that the gilrs may not be mature enough to be able to handle the sensual aspects.
However, there are many instructors who will teach younger girls and even some classes that are only for girls under 16. Many instructors, like myself, make exceptions for girls who show enough maturity and interest to allow them into our classes. Another way that we often allow it is if it is a mother and daughter learning together. Because the mother will hopefully keep her daughter from becoming a distraction and can offer some sort of sensorship should adut language come up that they do not find appropriate for their children (not that we tend to swear and talk about inappropriate things all the time but it's been known to come up and has been an issue).
My biggest problem is usually that the pace of an adult dance class is too slow for younger girls and they tend to get bored and eventually become a distraction. After that it's the amount of mid class drop out's due to their inability to immediately immitate shakira. This especially can be bothersome because other dancers could have signed up who would have seen the whole session though if spots were not completely full.