<p>suNA- I’m not that brave! I don’t want to be shunned by the cheerleader’s parents, although I don’t actually know any of them. A few years ago a good friend/neighbor’s daughter was the head cheerleader there… a very religious family…I think its safe to say we wouldn’t have been treated to that kind of spectacle if this family was still involved…but she’s off to BYU now. Guess times have changed.
I’ll keep you posted as to what happens next in the continuing saga of the salacious cheerleader performance (or is it cheerleader’s performance…cgm-- help me!!)
or, how about the saga of the cheerleader’s salacious performance?</p>
<p>wecandothis - maybe you could just write your XH a short note to the tune of “The tax form is asking for certain info … I’m putting down that you made $2 million, and gave us $12. It’s due tomorrow. Let me know if those are not the right numbers.” :)</p>
<p>Congrats on your activism, by the way. Once upon a time, we had trouble with a certain teacher, and were told by the admin that we were the only ones to complain about it. Later on, we learned of dozens (over the years) complaining and being told the same thing. I wonder if that’s what is happening at your school. The admin certainly isn’t going to admit that they’ve been inundated, but I think it’s rare to call a meeting because one parent complained.</p>
<p>poets- yes, there was in her response a slight and subtle hint of acknowledgement of a problem…but yes, very sparing of administrative egos</p>
<p>it just irritated me that her tone is as if she wasn’t there, when she was of course the featured speaker and MC of the whole event…she saw and heard what happened, not sure why she needs to meet with anyone at this late date to simply acknowledge the obvious…somebody screwed up, it was inappropriate at a minimum, and she’s responsible, even if indirectly</p>
<p>geez, here I am taking on the principal again, just like in jr high and high school in the 60’s:p</p>
<p>“geez, here I am taking on the principal again, just like in jr high and high school in the 60’s”</p>
<p>But especially if it is a small town or closely knit community, you really have to consider that it is your child or children who will be impacted by what you do. In this case I think you had a very valid issue to address and it sounds as though it is on the way to being addressed. I feel strongly about the slipping of all sorts of cultural standards among kids today, and the cheerleading routine you dewscribed sounds liike a prime example of poor judgment on someone’s part. But I still think, as I indicated in an earlier post, that sometimes in your children’s best interests you have to do without the fun of battle. As the child of two teachers, the parent of two children now both beyond high school, and a former PTA president, I have seen this from several different perspectives and have concluded that t squaky wheel may sometimes get the oil, but if it is always the same wheel or the wheel is so squeaky as to be constantly annoying, sometimes people just shut their ears to it. And the children do not always benefit. Like almost everything else, school life is political in the braodest sense, whether you are a kid or a parent or a board member–there are alliances and unspoken agreements and the conversations that really matter are usually not the ones you hear at open board meetings.</p>
<p>mattsmom- you’re right, as I said in one of my earlier posts, when a number of posters suggested bringing it to the attention of the principal, or even an op-ed piece in the paper…</p>
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<p>I was actually attempting to be facetious about taking on the principal being fun, just comparing this experience to my hs days…</p>
<p>The mention of the cheerleader going to BYU triggered the old brain. I went to the BYU-BC football game last weekend and both cheerleader teams were awesome. Real cheerleading with all sorts of gymnastic tricks. Several of the BYU guys were actually able to lift a female cheerleader over their head with one hand. They were actually only using one hand. The girl stood on her partner’s hand. Of course, their cute little cheerleaders probably each weighed 80 pounds soaking wet, but I was still impressed. Then the BC female cheerleaders actually do push ups (after each touchdown - so if BC has 21 points, then they would do 21 push ups. If they score again, say they now have 28, then the girls do 28 push ups). What athletic kids! I did not see a single bump or grind. Maybe the high school cheerleaders need to watch the college kids and stay away from the pro cheerleaders for their inspiration.
Also, the former principal of our local high school always made an announcement on the school tv news show the morning before a school dance reminding the students that the “forbidden” dance would not be welcomed or allowed at the school dances. The kids would roll their eyes and snicker, but they all knew what he meant and I have been told, that if anyone tried to dance like that, they were stopped immediately. Great man. He was able to enforce a rule with a little humor. The kids loved him.</p>
<p>He sounds like the rare, un-self-conscious baby boomer who had the courage to be the bad, strict guy. Wish there were more of these; we wouldn’t have so many problems.</p>
<p>I just saw the BC cheerleaders on a morning show and they did come across very well. On the other hand the same show had the Patriots cheerleader on and they looked like something out of Victoria’s Secret or Fredericks of Hollywood.</p>
<p>Our HS cheerleaders are the gymnastic types, stunts and tumbling and good old fashioned cheer. Maybe that is because we have a separate dance team. And yeah, the dance team performed at parent night the first week of school. Could have been a Vegas act as far as I was concerned.</p>
<p>I was never big on cheerleading, but it is huge in the south & some family members are hooked. One niece earned scholarship $$ and after graduating cheered for a pro football team for a while. I had to laugh at her describing the costume fitting. Gel inserts are required! </p>
<p>Kind of related to the principal’s warning: In middle school, the music director came right out & warned the kids at a talent show rehersal that the wearing of dental floss was prohibited. “I’d like to keep my job, thanks,” was one of his lines. He’s a very strict, very funny twentysomething.</p>
<p>BC “stole” that from West Point after the first “recent history” Army-BC matchup. Cadets (and squids/zoomies) have been knocking out pushups equalling total points for decades. It’s really tricky to do pushups if you are raised above the sea of cadets in a prone position.</p>
<p>It doesn’t really matter which school originated the idea of the push ups. I would love to see every school steal a stunt like that instead of those sleezy dance moves that so many squads have incorporated into their routines. That must be pretty neat to see the cadets doing the push ups the way you described. Go West Point!</p>
<p>I too like clean-cut cheering and I’m just kidding about it being a stolen idea. The Eagle cheer squad liked what the Army’s Corps of Cadets and Rabble Rousers did after points scored and emulated it. Nothing wrong with that!</p>
<p>What is really funny however is this:</p>
<p>The Army PT test consists of a 2-mile run, pushups and situps. You have 2 minutes each for the pushups and situps. Somebody is timing, counting off, and watching the test-taker to see that the movement is technically proficient. So you might hear “1, 2, 3 No, 4,5,6,7, no…” because the pushup didn’t come down low enough etc.</p>
<p>ANYWAY, the last Army-BC game I attended was in Chestnut Hill. BC scored a 2nd touchdown and as BC was counting off to 14, the cadets were shouting NO to the ones that would not have counted for a PT score.</p>
<p>Motherdear - Thanks! NOW I understand what was going on at the game last year when they played one another.
The big question now is what are the BU hockey fans going to do now that BU has banned cursing and naughty cheers during their games. Those poor kids will have nothing to do during the hockey games!</p>
<p>Was Army still shouting no? The last matchup Army-BC game I attended was in the '90s. </p>
<p>If the pushups don’t break the plane, they don’t count. You’d think after 10+ years of doing this, the BC cheerleaders would learn to do a pushup:)</p>
<p>If any of y’all ever get a chance to go to an Army game played at Michie Stadium, do it! The pageantry on the sidelines is fantastic. The Black Knight, the cannons firing after a touchdown (I don’t think they’re allowed to bring them to away games, A-Man, the Rabble Rousers and of course all the company mascots are great fun to watch!</p>
<p>Do high school cheerleaders in your areas have bad moral reputations? They seem to be some of the “loosest” kids at our school and have been for years. For that reason, the majority of the parents in my daughter’s class strongly encouraged their daughters to pursue soccer, basketball, volleyball, and tennis instead of cheerleading early on.</p>
<p>My niece, who graduated several years ago, actually quit the squad because of the after-game activities that the other squad members kept pushing her to join in with them. After turning them away again and again, she finally decided that she did not really feel like a member of the team and did not care to be associated with their immoral and illegal partying, etc.</p>
<p>A local youth pastor in our area even told his youth group that his daughter would never be allowed to cheer. He won’t even let her take gymnastics because he says it is a “stepping stone” to cheerleading. He’s pushing her into classical ballet and tap instead.</p>
<p>I’m all for cheerleaders who show that they truly are athletes rather than cheap-looking “show girls.”</p>
<p>The number of posts on this thread just indicates the hotbutton that cheer and some so-called “dance” genres have become. I live in a community where “dance” is extremely competetive and popular. Yes, you can find excellent dance schools that teach classical ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical etc. But the majority of the classes are hip hop style dance. Our school has three levels of dance teams…girls can take dance as their PE credit. The dance moves they learn are hip hop. </p>
<p>The coreography is just as described in the original post. It is embarrassing. And yes, parents are just as pleased as punch to see their darling Ds out there bumping and grinding.</p>
<p>O and by the way…if you want to get in touch with your inner stripper there are several athletic clubs nearby that have installed poles in their aerobics room. A stripper comes and teaches pole dancing! I am not kidding.</p>