kepdawg
04-17-2007, 09:21 PM
Cheerleading one sport worth ditching
10:49 AM CDT on Monday, April 16, 2007
sparks@dallasnews.com
Can you imagine a high school without cheerleaders?
I can.
Cheerleading seems to produce a social toxin that poisons the brain of anyone it touches – the girls, their parents, teachers, administrators and the public.
Karen Ayres, an education writer for this newspaper, uncovered the latest example of cheerleader nonsense at Allen High School in Collin County.
Two cheerleader moms, D.J. Pool and Pam Burns, got crosswise with each other. Ms. Pool's daughter got kicked off the squad for being in the presence of alcohol. MySpace pictures of other cheerleaders who also appeared to be in the presence of alcohol got sent to school officials.
Three other girls, including Ms. Burns' daughter, got kicked off the squad, and the cheerleader booster club erupted into warring factions of parents. None of the girls actually admitted to drinking.
Lacey Rainey, the cheerleading coach, had watched similar controversies develop at nearby McKinney North High School and at Carroll Senior High School in Southlake.
In her story in Saturday's newspaper, Ms. Ayres reported that Coach Rainey threatened to disband the booster club and cancel the squad's end-of-year banquet if any parents took their grievances to the media, which is exactly what happened.
I shudder to think how many hours of time Allen ISD administrators and staff will waste on this foolishness.
Russell Crowe, actor and co-owner of an Australian rugby team, recently got rid of his prancing cheerleaders. They made women spectators uncomfortable and made fathers less likely to bring their young sons to games.
So, a male and female drum corps has replaced cheerleaders on the rugby sidelines. Now, Mr. Crowe is no longer an angry hooligan. Free of cheerleading, he's a happy guy again.
At this very moment, somewhere in Texas, probably in Allen, is a high school principal yearning to be free. And an athletic director enduring another speech about how cheerleading really is a sport and deserves respect.
I'm sorry. What sport requires the athlete to wear a smile pasted on her face? And exactly whom are the cheerleaders competing against at a football game? Is this an activity worth risking serious injury?
Look, most high school cheerleaders and their parents are terrific people. But let's face it. Time after time, these cheerleading programs run aground on the shoals of superficiality and pettiness.
School administrators maintain a double standard when defining what is disruptive to the learning environment. They ban students with unusual hairstyles, T-shirts with beer logos or marijuana leaves, bare midriffs and baggy pants.
Those things may be offensive to adults, but they aren't disruptive. Cheerleading is disruptive. Really, what would be lost if high schools dumped it as an extracurricular activity?
Young women who value physical activity and competition can pursue a variety of high school sports – basketball, volleyball, softball, soccer, golf, swimming, diving, tennis, and track and field.
Many people, especially Texans, will view the idea of high school without cheerleaders as a radical suggestion. I can hear them now.
Football players and their parents are no angels. Why don't we ban football? It doesn't have anything to do with academics, either.
Let me retort.
Football is the host organism that nurtures a school community. How many people would go see a marching band if its performance wasn't sandwiched into a football game? A clean, winning football program creates a positive image that encourages people to find out other good things about a school.
Football also generates revenue from ticket sales and concessions.
For those too faint of heart to consider getting rid of cheerleaders, how about a few reforms that might remove them from the pedestal of popularity?
•Use a panel of judges to select cheerleaders in closed tryouts. Don't allow the students to vote on them after tryouts at mass assemblies.
•Eliminate them from the sidelines at football games. The marching band remains the critical spirit machine at games.
•Get rid of the cheerleader booster club. If that won't fly, roll the cheerleader parents into the band booster club. They might be less likely to misbehave while lost in a sea of band parents.
•Call them something else. The word "cheerleader" has taken on too much baggage. Call them "Yell Leaders" or "Spirit Flyers."
And now it's time for another cheerleader booster club meeting. Somebody call security.
10:49 AM CDT on Monday, April 16, 2007
sparks@dallasnews.com
Can you imagine a high school without cheerleaders?
I can.
Cheerleading seems to produce a social toxin that poisons the brain of anyone it touches – the girls, their parents, teachers, administrators and the public.
Karen Ayres, an education writer for this newspaper, uncovered the latest example of cheerleader nonsense at Allen High School in Collin County.
Two cheerleader moms, D.J. Pool and Pam Burns, got crosswise with each other. Ms. Pool's daughter got kicked off the squad for being in the presence of alcohol. MySpace pictures of other cheerleaders who also appeared to be in the presence of alcohol got sent to school officials.
Three other girls, including Ms. Burns' daughter, got kicked off the squad, and the cheerleader booster club erupted into warring factions of parents. None of the girls actually admitted to drinking.
Lacey Rainey, the cheerleading coach, had watched similar controversies develop at nearby McKinney North High School and at Carroll Senior High School in Southlake.
In her story in Saturday's newspaper, Ms. Ayres reported that Coach Rainey threatened to disband the booster club and cancel the squad's end-of-year banquet if any parents took their grievances to the media, which is exactly what happened.
I shudder to think how many hours of time Allen ISD administrators and staff will waste on this foolishness.
Russell Crowe, actor and co-owner of an Australian rugby team, recently got rid of his prancing cheerleaders. They made women spectators uncomfortable and made fathers less likely to bring their young sons to games.
So, a male and female drum corps has replaced cheerleaders on the rugby sidelines. Now, Mr. Crowe is no longer an angry hooligan. Free of cheerleading, he's a happy guy again.
At this very moment, somewhere in Texas, probably in Allen, is a high school principal yearning to be free. And an athletic director enduring another speech about how cheerleading really is a sport and deserves respect.
I'm sorry. What sport requires the athlete to wear a smile pasted on her face? And exactly whom are the cheerleaders competing against at a football game? Is this an activity worth risking serious injury?
Look, most high school cheerleaders and their parents are terrific people. But let's face it. Time after time, these cheerleading programs run aground on the shoals of superficiality and pettiness.
School administrators maintain a double standard when defining what is disruptive to the learning environment. They ban students with unusual hairstyles, T-shirts with beer logos or marijuana leaves, bare midriffs and baggy pants.
Those things may be offensive to adults, but they aren't disruptive. Cheerleading is disruptive. Really, what would be lost if high schools dumped it as an extracurricular activity?
Young women who value physical activity and competition can pursue a variety of high school sports – basketball, volleyball, softball, soccer, golf, swimming, diving, tennis, and track and field.
Many people, especially Texans, will view the idea of high school without cheerleaders as a radical suggestion. I can hear them now.
Football players and their parents are no angels. Why don't we ban football? It doesn't have anything to do with academics, either.
Let me retort.
Football is the host organism that nurtures a school community. How many people would go see a marching band if its performance wasn't sandwiched into a football game? A clean, winning football program creates a positive image that encourages people to find out other good things about a school.
Football also generates revenue from ticket sales and concessions.
For those too faint of heart to consider getting rid of cheerleaders, how about a few reforms that might remove them from the pedestal of popularity?
•Use a panel of judges to select cheerleaders in closed tryouts. Don't allow the students to vote on them after tryouts at mass assemblies.
•Eliminate them from the sidelines at football games. The marching band remains the critical spirit machine at games.
•Get rid of the cheerleader booster club. If that won't fly, roll the cheerleader parents into the band booster club. They might be less likely to misbehave while lost in a sea of band parents.
•Call them something else. The word "cheerleader" has taken on too much baggage. Call them "Yell Leaders" or "Spirit Flyers."
And now it's time for another cheerleader booster club meeting. Somebody call security.