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Elementary School-Aged Kids
Does cheerleading still have a negative stereotype?
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Anonymous
Are you rich? Annual HHI over $550k? If not, hardly relevant, is it? |
Anonymous
THis would be the reason I'd steer away from it. ANd that many of the "coaches" aren't really trained properly, and it is frequently not treated as a serious sport. THink there was an article recently talking about how many of the injuries occur because it isn't taken as seriously as it ought to be considering what they do. (and having said that, I still thing "cheering" as a concept is assinine). |
Anonymous
I played LAX in hs, and a sport does not a person make! (grammar police come and get me). Let kids play what they want, whether its LAX or competitive chess and focus instead on teaching them to be good people. |
Anonymous
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The injury thing is something to take seriously, but that also depends on the type of cheerleading being done. Back in my day, I did plenty of gymnastics as a cheerleader, but we weren't doing the kinds of pyramids and tosses that you might see in competitions on ESPN. Catastrophic injuries can happen even on relatively simple stunts, but I'd venture a guess that they happen more often in those kinds of tosses/flips.
Being properly trained to do the gymnastics skills that are done in cheerleading is INCREDIBLY important. As a PP mentioned, many cheerleading coaches aren't equipped to properly teach those skills, and that leads to injuries as well. |
Anonymous
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Just hearing the word cheerleader makes me cringe. Try out for a dance squad if you're too small for a varsity sports. But cheerleading is archaic. Why do we need a group of girls hopping up and down to inspire a team?
Your daughter may end up getting straight A's, becoming a neuroscientist, and whatever else your cheerleading friends ended up doing. The problem is, it's in spite of cheerleading. You'll always be following the sentence, "She's a cheerleader" with a bunch of buts. |
Anonymous
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OP, does your daughter want to cheer for her school's teams, with other girls from school, or is she interested in cheerleading as a competitive sport?
There is a big difference. My daughter is on a competitive/all-star dance team, outside of school. Her gym also has a cheer program. Most of the gyms with all-star teams are cheer/dance gyms. It is, like a PP mentioned, more like the competitions you see on ESPN. We travel to (usually within 1-2 hrs, and one national competition per year) to compete against other dance teams. My DD is not a cheerleader, but most competitions we attend have both cheer and dance competitions. The cheerleaders aren't on the sidelines cheering for a team. They're performing a choreographed dance & gymnastics routine, competing against other squads. They're athletes, they train hard for this with qualified gymnastic coaches at the gym several times a week, and it's a competitive sport. |
Anonymous
| My niece is a cheerleader and also she is such a good and smart girl BUT she got hurt really bad a couple of months ago, she had surgery in her knee and now she is not the same. I will worry more about the injuries. |
Anonymous
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My BIL forbid his daughter to become a cheerleader. He told her she was too smart, too pretty and did not want people to believe otherwise. She ended up at a top university (and happens to be truly gorgeous), oddly enough. She is really an impressive human being. I really respected him for that because I always had thought (before hearing that) that although he was very successful, he was also a sexist pig. That decision forever changed my mind about him for the better. I thought it was rather insightful. The people I happen to know that were cheerleaders in high school happen to hang onto it somewhat. As if they never quite made it over that hump. You would never look at them today and guess they were a cheerleader, but they see it as an accomplishment in their lives. I would hope there would be much more than that, sadly. |
Anonymous
Parent who is inclined against cheerleading here. All I am getting from your post is that you are VERY judgmental. Not getting too much on legitimate pros and cons. |
Anonymous
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I was a cheerleader, but back in the day that was the closest thing to a sport in my HS. I am a PhD, so I don't think it harmed me.
Having said that, my nieces from another state (think Snooki) have been involved in gymnastics/cheerleading/dance team. Many injuries for one of them. One thing I notice is that they both have a lot of poise. But on the other hand they spend enormous amounts of time and money on hair and makeup. The bottom line is that this stuff can reinforce obsessions with looks, especially the heavy makeup on young girls. I don't like that. But the athleticism is impressive. |
Anonymous
I am curious where you saw a definition that states a HHI of over $550k qualifies a family as rich. Would you give us a link, please? And why did you even assume the PP does not have such an income? Many, many people in Washington DO make quite a bit over 550K. I don't know that in DC, and certainly not in NYC, would everyone consider that rich. Also, what does PP's HHI have to do with whether or not they would steer their child away from a sport that is identified (in the poster's words) with "rich thugs" - its a suppossed stereotype of the sport, not a factual list of PP's son's attributes. Your post is just really odd.  
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Anonymous
I agree with this! 
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Anonymous
I think people, magazines, television, movies and the media do that also. |
Anonymous
| I wanted nothing more than to do cheerleading when I was in 6th grade. After lots of begging, my parents finally caved. I had hoped it help me be more "popular". It didn't, the girls were already pretty clique-y, but I still had fun. I stopped cheerleading in 8th grade and went on to be very successful in cross country and track. I say let her do it if she wants, but make sure she stays involved in other activities and with non-cheerleading friends. |
Anonymous
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Uggh on cheerleading but gymnastics if they do not get too into it is good. My DD is only 5 and does great in things like soccer, swimming or kids sports type things that involve running, jumping etc. She wanted to try gymnastics and really loves it even though its the only sport she has tried where she is by far the worst in the class. I think its the best sport for her right now because she is not very good at it yet really likes it. It requires that she challenge herself more, she has to listen and pay attention to the teacher, it is more focused, and builds more balance and upper body strength.
I would go for the gymnastics and try to steer her away from turning it into cheerleading. One option may be to find a place that doesn't have a strong cheerleading aspect to the program or that offers cheering and gymnastics. There are a few gyms that offer kids and beginner classes but then also serious gymnastics where there is no mention of cheerleading or acrobatics anywhere. |