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Culture Clash in the Public Schools
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Anonymous
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My DD is going to a local public elementary school. She's in one of the early grades, which is extremely diverse. Not only is the school racially diverse, but also and economically diverse. This is a good thing.
One thing troubles me a bit. As the parent of a young girl, I'm concerned about the negative signals the larger culture gives every single day, and I'm fighting to raise my daughter *not* to buy into those sexist stereotypes. Now, on to the question: I was picking my DD up after school the other afternoon and happened to catch a few moments of the cheerleading practice. Good God, there were girls who couldn't have been any older than 8 performing what could be charitably be described as "mature" dance moves. (Uncharitably, I'd describe it as pole-dancing without the pole). Frankly, I want my DD to have a childhood. I don't want her feeling pressured into signing up for this kind of stuff; and I don't want her getting the message that performing sexualized dance moves in front of the school is the way you prove your worth as a young woman. Seriously, this is supposed to be the girls' equivalent of being on the football team? Funny, I thought that--if anything--safety issues, or poor testing or curriculum would be the issue that drove me out of the public schools. But this has me really really troubled. Am I being completely irrational, or does anyone else share these concerns? |
Anonymous
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You are not being irrational. To get what you want, you might have to have to switch schools. This is a culture clash.
Can you afford private? |
Anonymous
| Is this post fake? Sounds exactly like something I heard on the news several months ago. |
Anonymous
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OP here. I realize every single fake post carries a similar disclaimer, but this is absolutely not fake.
Why would you think it's fake? |
Anonymous
Drive by your local high school and look at the cheerleaders sometime. Or your local junior high, cheerleading camp,etc. |
Anonymous
OP said her DC was in the early grades. |
Anonymous
Because there is a lawsuit involved. |
Anonymous
Whoa! Seriously? Link please... |
Anonymous
Right. I mean, I'm familiar with the whole "Bring It On" phenomenon. The risque aspect of the routines is kind of subversive, or whatever. But we're talking about freaking 8-year-olds. |
Anonymous
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/year-kicked-off-cheerleading-squad-mom-questions-suggestive/story?id=11662300 |
Anonymous
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I've seen Aiton's very talented squad cheer. They have some kids that are amazing. That said, the moves were very, very adult for little girls in the 3rd through 5th grade.
I remarked on the performance to the principal at our school about it and she said that was the reason we didn't have a cheerleading squad. Things just got too grown-up too fast for her comfort. |
Anonymous
| I appreciate how you feel, OP, but I don't know that you're going to find it much different elsewhere unless you send your kid to a religious school. Kids are sexualized so much earlier than when we were young. When I was a kid I watched Captain Kangaroo and Romper Room. When dd was young, she watched All That on Nickelodeon and Britney Spears guest starred. |
Anonymous
| I understand what the OP is talking about. Socioeconomic diversity is a good and important thing, but along with it sometimes comes exposure to attitudes and mores that we may not want our kid exposed to yet. This also happens on a lesser level with kids with older siblings. Unfortunately, the only way I see out of this is to move your kid to a more sheltered school, and I will say the privates tend to be more sheltered when it comes to the little ones. |
Anonymous
| I was a cheerleader and coached cheerleading (at the high school level) and I can assure you that my girls never cheered about their booties. Give me a break. We would have never been taken seriously at games or especially competitions. I hate to say it, but it sounds like it has to do with a specific demographic. |
Anonymous
I don't follow. I'm not sure how you pulled socioeconomic diversity as the reason the reason for the raunchy moves of the cheerleaders. I agree with you that when different types of people come to the table, they will bring with them different perspectives and views, but let's be careful about defaulting to equating socioeconomic differences with "things we don't want our (who's our by the way) kids mixing with." And feel free to yank me back, if I've read too carefully into your comment. |