8th grade Cheerleaders punished by coach

[raeoflyte]

www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/southwest/middle-school-cheerleaders-burned-after-coachs-punishment/

I sent this to my kids with the reminder that not all authority figures have good intentions or common sense and that it's ok to say no.

[thyme4change]

I bet that coach was the head cheerleader/queen bee/super mean girl in high school and has never recovered from her crown fading away as she aged.

[raeoflyte]

Oct 30, 2024 8:50:23 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

I bet that coach was the head cheerleader/queen bee/super mean girl in high school and has never recovered from her crown fading away as she aged.

Yep!

I'm curious what cheer the kids did that was so offensive. I don't think I could have done a mile of bear crawl or crab walk at my most in shape even in acceptable conditions.

[moon/Laura]

I hope she's fired, because she certainly deserves it.

[haapai]

"future careers in cheer"  WTF? 

What's the "red team" mean?  More specifically, does that mean first or second string?  I started typing "varsity or JV?" and then realized that these are all 8th graders. 

[billisonboard]

Oct 30, 2024 15:16:32 GMT -5 haapai said:

"future careers in cheer"  WTF? 

What's the "red team" mean?  More specifically, does that mean first or second string?  I started typing "varsity or JV?" and then realized that these are all 8th graders. 

Frequently junior high/middle schools will have multiple cheerleading squads alternating at events so more can participate. My guess would be that "red" is one of the school colors and is used to not have hierarchical squads.

[haapai]

Oct 30, 2024 15:47:14 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Oct 30, 2024 15:16:32 GMT -5 haapai said:

"future careers in cheer"  WTF? 

What's the "red team" mean?  More specifically, does that mean first or second string?  I started typing "varsity or JV?" and then realized that these are all 8th graders. 

Frequently junior high/middle schools will have multiple cheerleading squads alternating at events so more can participate. My guess would be that "red" is one of the school colors and is used to not have hierarchical squads.

I can only hope that you are correct and that the red team was one of two, roughly equal squads that were named after the school colors.  This possibility had not occurred to me previously. 

When I heard "red team", I immediately thought of the expendable, first-to-die characters in old Star Wars episodes.  A second thought was that this team was the more talented of two 8th-grade squads and were simply red-shirted until they reached high school. 

I have no idea whether there is anything to either of my gut-takes.  I do not speak or understand cheer and I am not from Texas. 

The only thing that I understand is that someone who was supposedly training these girls ordered them to do something very unsafe and they complied for long enough to get injured.  That coach is a goon. 

[Tennesseer]

Evans Middle School in Lubbock, TX has an eighth grade cheer squad and a seventh grade cheer squad.  My guess is the two school cheer squads have different color uniforms.

Evans Middle School Athletics

[Tiny]

Maybe the coach just has strong moral/religious values and suffering harsh punishments are acceptable for when someone doesn't "know their place" or disobeys an authority figure.

The article says:

The girls, who are all eighth graders and on the “red” team for the squad, told NewsNation affiliate KLBK they were punished for performing a cheer at a football game that she didn’t want them to do. They said the coach found it “disrespectful.”

sounds like the cheer squad acted independently and did not do as they were told.

[mollyanna58]

Oct 31, 2024 9:50:45 GMT -5 Tiny said:

Maybe the coach just has strong moral/religious values and suffering harsh punishments are acceptable for when someone doesn't "know their place" or disobeys an authority figure.

The article says:

The girls, who are all eighth graders and on the “red” team for the squad, told NewsNation affiliate KLBK they were punished for performing a cheer at a football game that she didn’t want them to do. They said the coach found it “disrespectful.”

sounds like the cheer squad acted independently and did not do as they were told.

They may have not done what they were told. That does not mean they should be punished with pain. That sounds like the opposite of having strong religious or moral values.

[moon/Laura]

I was just going to say the same thing as mollyanna58.  It would have been one thing to have to do it indoors on the gym floor, but even then a mile seems really excessive. She (coach) sounds like a power-trippin' bitch.

[swamp]

Oct 31, 2024 9:50:45 GMT -5 Tiny said:

Maybe the coach just has strong moral/religious values and suffering harsh punishments are acceptable for when someone doesn't "know their place" or disobeys an authority figure.

The article says:

The girls, who are all eighth graders and on the “red” team for the squad, told NewsNation affiliate KLBK they were punished for performing a cheer at a football game that she didn’t want them to do. They said the coach found it “disrespectful.”

sounds like the cheer squad acted independently and did not do as they were told.

Perhaps the more appropriate punishment would be suspension for a game or 2.  Not torture.

[billisonboard]

Oct 31, 2024 9:50:45 GMT -5 Tiny said:

Maybe the coach just has strong moral/religious values and suffering harsh punishments are acceptable for when someone doesn't "know their place" or disobeys an authority figure.

The article says:

The girls, who are all eighth graders and on the “red” team for the squad, told NewsNation affiliate KLBK they were punished for performing a cheer at a football game that she didn’t want them to do. They said the coach found it “disrespectful.”

sounds like the cheer squad acted independently and did not do as they were told.

And if it were a private religious school, a teacher might have more leeway. Public school, no.

[Tiny]

As far as I can tell, there's not much agreement on what is moral and what is not under the umbrella of Christianity (since this happened in Texas). Christianity doesn't seem to have a "do no harm" clause.

For the record I agree that the punishment was inappropriate and what I would strongly say was torture.

My best guess would be that the coach felt justified inflicting that punishment on the cheer squad. And that's really scary. Feeling justified in being cruel usually means one's core value/beliefs allow that the cruelty is acceptable and right.