All-Star The Wire Article On Cheerlebrities

[just_kay_today]

I coach a Youth team too....I never even thought about it, especially because my kids wear shorts and a long sleeved full top with no crazy cutouts or mesh. But pervs are pervs so I guess I should think about it :(

We wear the same - shorts with full tops. I've never encountered situations that make me question their safety but just thinking outloud...

I have said this many times and parents still do not get it. Child predators do not prey on your child's flesh, they prey on their innocence. They are looking for opportunities to take advantage of them. ..not just physically, but emotionally. If you gathered a group of boys and girls, dressed in winter gear, into a structure, child predators would also be there. Covering your children up will not deter them. Further, children are more likely to be molested by someone they know than a stranger. The key, if you are concerned about your child's safety, is to keep an eye on them.

When I first joined CEA @mstealtoyou told me that we ALL looked out for each other's kids. If I saw a little one wandering around, that I should help her find her parents. The gym was smaller then, but the concept was never lost on me. If they were wearing teal, they were one of "our" kids! I still call them "my" and "our" kids. That might be something you could do at your own gym; agree to have more than one set of eyes on the children. Because I promise you, a warm-up will not prevent a creep from messing with the body or mind of your child.

 

[just_kay_today]

It's interesting to see the many directions this discussion goes. After reading this whole thread, I'm brought back to a thought I have mentioned a few times:

This is NOT a sport. It is an industry running a youth activity.

If this were a youth sport, there would be priorities protecting the kids: #1 Safety, #2 Athleticism, #3 A worthwhile experience

The industry runs it more like: #1 make loads of money off of mega cheer comps #2 sell camps to qualify to go to cheer comps #3 uniforms, bows and other merchandise #4 emphasise safety, athleticism, and experience whenever they can support profits

I personally find all 3 articles fairly truthful to what people outside of cheer see the sport, as promoted by our very own companies, parents, and athletes in plain sight. I don't see any of the authors being vindictive or with negative motives, in fact it looks like they properly quoted and used pictures in their articles. We should ask ourselves if the things the entire industry of cheer truly values are safety and athleticism or is it bows, make-up and pretty people. Some of these kids may be self-promoting, some not, but all 300,000+ followers can't be wrong in following the latest trend.

Is this the trend we want? What can we as individuals do about it?

My CP is doing her Senior Year exit IB thesis on this very topic: Is All Star Cheerleading a Sport, and her research, sadly, has concluded that the activity that she has spent a decade doing, is NOT, for the very reasons listed above, along with a few others, a sport. She was very matter of fact and pragmatic about it, but I thought it was sad. :(

 

[Ems]

My CP is doing her Senior Year exit IB thesis on this very topic: Is All Star Cheerleading a Sport, and her research, sadly, has concluded that the activity that she has spent a decade doing, is NOT, for the very reasons listed above, along with a few others, a sport. She was very matter of fact and pragmatic about it, but I thought it was sad. :(

For a class I had to write a long persuasive essay for a writing class, and my topic was "why cheerleading should be a sport," but I didn't use the argument that most cheerleaders use ("its not just cheering on sidelines," "we work just as hard as any other athlete," etc.) I focused more on the benefits of it becoming a sport like universal judging, qualified coaches, safety, one governing body, and many more reasons, granted I focused more on collegiate cheering than all star. Even when people ask me about cheerleading, I tell them that while without doubt is cheerleading very athletic and has greatly evolved since it's start, with the current organization of it, it's not a sport.

 

[krystynakrez]

This is a joke, right?

 

[njallday]

This is a joke, right?
View attachment 426

what, her audi or how perfect she is? :p or the fact that it makes her the perfect cheerleader? bet having an audi makes you hit a perfect double up.

if there are pictures of said audi with license plate numbers showing i would like to just go to texas and shake her/her parents (see my previous post.) if not, carry on.

 

[krystynakrez]

what, her audi or how perfect she is? :p or the fact that it makes her the perfect cheerleader? bet having an audi makes you hit a perfect double up.

if there are pictures of said audi with license plate numbers showing i would like to just go to texas and shake her/her parents (see my previous post.) if not, carry on.

The fact that they encourage people telling them how perfect they are... I can't even begin to imagine

ETA: no license plate on the audi picture :rolleyes:

 

[cheermommaRN]

I constantly consider myself lucky that my cp is 12 and isn't one of those crazy fangirls. One of her teammates texted her that she was so upset that "Marly" broke up. Cp was like "who the heck is that?"
I think my biggest concern with these IG accounts is not the pedophiles but how their accounts are completely unchecked. For example one "cheerlebrity" who happens to be a boy will post a pic and within 5 minutes there are at least 10 comments calling him "Gay", or "Fag". And no one takes them down. Then fights break out between commenters that go unchecked.

 

[Cheer Dad]

I constantly consider myself lucky that my cp is 12 and isn't one of those crazy fangirls. One of her teammates texted her that she was so upset that "Marly" broke up. Cp was like "who the heck is that?"
I think my biggest concern with these IG accounts is not the pedophiles but how their accounts are completely unchecked. For example one "cheerlebrity" who happens to be a boy will post a pic and within 5 minutes there are at least 10 comments calling him "Gay", or "Fag". And no one takes them down. Then fights break out between commenters that go unchecked.

Aaaaaaaaaand Marley is?

 

[12stepCheermom]

If ya'll want to see what an amazing band can do, just watch a few of Ohio State's videos.

TBDBITL! OH-IO! Sorry, can't help it as an Ohio State born and raised girl

Their Michael Jackson show was absolutely amazing!

 

[Cheermom1969]

Aaaaaaaaaand Marley is?

And I ONLY know this because someone put it on Instagram but apparently it's M. Smith and C. Manning. I hate to use minor's names here but since every kid reading this probably knows who "marly" is... Anyway, I was really irritated when I read the post and wanted to say something but I chose not to for many reasons, one of which is I didn't want to get attacked by cheerlebrity crazed kids.

 

[just_kay_today]

I feel like being Polly Positive today: We need to post, spread and read more article like this one:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/29/theater/megan-abbott-on-cheerleaders-in-pop-culture.html

Although she mentions high school cheer, she could be talking about any type of cheer. She's talking about my CP's first black eye or determination to fight for a stunt! We need to support more articles like this in reputable publications like the New York Times!

 

[mamabear]

When I first joined CEA @mstealtoyou told me that we ALL looked out for each other's kids. If I saw a little one wandering around, that I should help her find her parents. The gym was smaller then, but the concept was never lost on me. If they were wearing teal, they were one of "our" kids! I still call them "my" and "our" kids. That might be something you could do at your own gym; agree to have more than one set of eyes on the children. Because I promise you, a warm-up will not prevent a creep from messing with the body or mind of your child.

I was talking with some new all star parents the other day and said something very similar . Our gym does not have a required gym suit , but we are given the options to buy various pro gear ranging from $30 - $300. One of the mini parents said, "why bother? They are just going to outgrow it anyway." I started shaking my head and said that I would never let my child be in an arena without visibly wearing her gyms gear, because to me being easily identify-able by all of the adults in our program meant that she had another 100 pairs of eyes watching out for her.

 

[Bystander]

what, her audi or how perfect she is? :p or the fact that it makes her the perfect cheerleader? bet having an audi makes you hit a perfect double up.

if there are pictures of said audi with license plate numbers showing i would like to just go to texas and shake her/her parents (see my previous post.) if not, carry on.

Pretty self rightous of you to think you could "shake up" her parents. do you know them? do you know how involved they are in their childs life? Looking at this thread it seems all the stalkers of these accounts are the ones on this board!

 

[fierceeflyeer]

Pretty self rightous of you to think you could "shake up" her parents. do you know them? do you know how involved they are in their childs life? Looking at this thread it seems all the stalkers of these accounts are the ones on this board!

I don't necessarily think so. I think the poster just meant that things seem to be getting a bit out of control with the whole "cheerleb" thing and maybe their parents should step in to protect their kids instead of allowing them to flood their instagrams, twitters, facebooks etc. with commercial type ads asking their followers to buy things and flaunting their newest purchases.

 

[njallday]

Pretty self rightous of you to think you could "shake up" her parents. do you know them? do you know how involved they are in their childs life? Looking at this thread it seems all the stalkers of these accounts are the ones on this board!

I normally wouldn't give you the time of day and respond, but since I'm soooo self righteous I'll bite. (and ps it's spelled "righteous")

I don't give a flying hoot about how involved or not involved her parents are. if you read my previous post, which I doubt, you would know that my issue is with social media and how much information these kids so easily give out to millions.

if you're implying that I am one of those stalkers, you are also ill informed. my post was about an observation I made on a large competition weekend. I logged on to my personal, private and very non-cheer related Instagram account and saw at least 15 cheerleaders, if not more on the popular page. a quick click on any of them and a scan over the first few photos in their accounts gave out hometowns, high schools, license plate numbers, birthdays, parent names, etc. that is scary and alarming and an issue that needs to be addressed. so, when it was posted about her brand new car I jokingly asked if her license plate was showing since it was relevant to the conversation. i was told it wasn't - so you can give her parents a pat on the back for me, no shaking necessary ;)