Did anyone see the Dateline special?

[QofC]

Did anyone see the :usa NBC :cute "Personal Best" :cute Dateline special?

They did an hour special following three girls desperately trying to make the varsity cheerleading squad for the high school national championship team. :wand

I watched it because I will be completing my masters degree in education and have always had negative views about cheerleading. I figure that as a teacher I need to keep an open mind and be encouraging to all students. Well, this show did nothing for that! :mad :reallymad

This is absolutely devestating for these young girls. I was in tears for these girls :sad :cry because it is so sad that even their best sometimes isn't good enough. I'm glad the girls are so comforting to one another, but overall, I just don't think this is a good thing.

I would :love to hear everyone else's view -- feel free to tell me I'm wrong. Or someone offer me some encouraging words so that I don't look so negatively at cheerleading.

[Didi]

I too saw the program and yes I cried for the girls who didn't make it.:cry However, the girls knew what they were getting into and how hard it was going to be. So,I didn't feel sorry for them....just sad.

[dreya]

I saw it....it was sad. But, it was the girls' choice to compete, and they knew they chances of getting in were limited....In life, sometimes it's true that we don't get what we want even when we do our best.
love, dreya :pinkfishy

[Starlightgirlie]

Jenn :bear,

My tv isn't working all that well, but I watched (as best I could...haha...and it was quite fuzzy) and thought it was kind of sad and kind of a slap in the face life lesson for those girls. I don't know if I'd want my child going through all that in the name of cheerleading (as boy did that woman take what she was doing seriously) but I also see the other side of the coin in that they *did* know what they were getting into before they started the tryout.

What got me was the amount of money and time that the girls and their parents spent (all those private coachings, missing vacations, whatever) to prepare. That amazed me! Geez, they could have taken a Europe vacataion with that money :muhaha...but I guess cheerleading must be that important to them.

Anyway, just my two cents-and thanks for the heads up to watch this-as it was really compelling, sad and very interesting.

Have a good weekend!

:love

[Mimi]

:hugon CBG :hugoff

I did see the special....WOW! I was a cheerleader and it was nowhere near that competitve (if it had been I certainly wouldn't have done it :ohboy). I have to say that I thought it was pretty insane as to the lengths some of the girls went to~but I guess if you want something bad enough :ummm.......

I was :sad for them, but I guess I have to agree w/ the other :fishys~the girls knew what they were getting into. Life is about trying, doing your best, and not always getting what you want. It was very interesting.....

Much :love to ya, sweetheart!!

[desiderata]

:gumby Hi Cbg,

I didn't catch the Dateline special on cheerleading; however, I decided to reply based on some experience here. Formerly, a competitive gymnast whose career ended due to injuries in high school, I became a cheerleader. Although I desperately wanted to compete, my school didn't do that. However, when I went to college, I did decide to try out for the University of Kentucky cheerleading squad. The girls there were great--the top of the nation. It was incredibly *competitive* as everyone was vying for only a certain number of spots.

The thing is that this was what we all wanted. It was so important to us, that yes, most would do anything to get there. It's like any other major competitive sport. To be the best, you have to be willing to make sacrifices. It's sad but true. And sometimes even our best won't be good enough. There's always a lot of factors that come into play.

So I guess my point is that sometimes when people become passionate about something (whether it's a good or bad thing), they go to extraordinary lengths that they may not normally go to. And if you think cheerleading is bad, you should check out the HBO documentary, "Living Dolls" about the highly controversial child beauty pageants. It's a major eye-opener and very :scared and :surpriseing at the lengths these little girls and parents adhere to--to become the "Little Miss Beauty Queen."

Just my two cents on the issue.

:butterfly Dae

[ferrarigirl]

It is funny that you ask if anyone saw the Dateline special. I turned on my TV last night night and it was on. I actaully tried out for cheerleading my fresman and sophmore year in high school. MY dream was to eventually be a Laker girl, so making high school cheer was definately a priority for me. :supergrin To sum it up, I did not make it either year. I thought it was because there was something wrong with me...like being too fat-even though I was about ************ pounds or so. :sad I became really depressed, jealous of the girls who made it (one girl who made it was also my best friend, but thats a whole different story) and I became to insecure. Watching that last night brought back a lot of feelings. I felt like as if my entire high school career was doomed, it just was not right that I did not make cheer! I have worked through most of it , but it still stings a little.

[battgyrll]

I saw this special too. I was very sad for the girl who didnt make either squad (i don't remember her name) but so happy for the other two, espcially the one who made varsity. I think that this jut shows how well the segment was done if it made us all feel for these girls.

I dont think all high school cheerleading is this competitive. I know that my high school wasn't (although i wasn't a cheerleader i had a friend who was). I really enjoyed this segment though. It actually gave me a better opinion of cheerleading knowing all the things they have to do and just how athletic they have to be.

Just my two cents!

:bat battgyrll :bat

[starbrightstarlight]

:hugon Care:beargirl :hugoff

I did and it made me very :sad

[lindsey]

I didn't see Dateline last night, but I wish that I had watched!
As a former High School Cheerleader, (yikes)-I really liked cheerleading. BUT, cheeleading was not as competitive when I was in school as it is today (ok, I'm dating myself!). Sometimes, I'll watch the ESPN cheerleading championships and I'm amazed at how athletic and competitive it's become-never mind the expense.

It can be a devastating sport to some girls. Cheerleading represents some silly ideal that it = popularity and happiness, and in my day-a lot of girls thought that there high school social scene was over if they didn't make the squad.

I'm so glad to see it evolve into a real sport. So, it's treated like a sport-with intense tryouts. It's like any other sport, only the most qualified athlete will make the team. I think that a lacrosse player knows what she's up against when trying out for the team-isn't she equally as hurt as a cheerleader if she doesn't make the team?

Becoming a member of a team gives you a sense of belonging to a group. It's hard in any situation if you don't make it into the group. Remember sorority rush?

I'm just glad to see it viewed as more of a sport today, than some activity that mindless popularity driven girls belong-it's had a bad rap in the past. These girls are athletic. They're athletes-and being athletic=competition. It's unfortunate :sad but everyone that trys out can't make the team.

:hugon CBG :hugoff Please don't have a negative attitude about cheerleading...the girls who make up the squad are all individuals. It's unfair to glom them all together. And...try to see them as athletes.

:love
Lindsey

[Jen Ann]

I did see it, and I was rather surprised to see what a big deal this was to the girls. I was just never interested in cheerleading because I have always believed that the concept of girls cheerleading in skimpy outfits for the boys - who are doing the "real" sport (and after all, you buy tickets for a basketball game, not for the cheerleading show) - is demeaning. No way around it. That is my problem with it, and that's why it seems to me to be a harmful thing. It perpetuates the role of women in our society as "second fiddle" to men. I am always pleased to see a cheerleading squad with males in it, because it takes the edge off the insult.

Gymnastics is a similar type of sport, and there is nothing demeaning about it - so that I support as a healthy activity for both girls and boys.

As far as the competition....well, they have to learn about life's realities at some point, and I don't think over-protecting children from competition is helpful to them. It makes facing the "real world" so much more difficult when they have no experience with working and competing for something.

[infinitepiphany]

jen ann-

cheerleading is quite competitive between squads outside of football/basketball/soccer/whatever games. perhaps the whole thing started as a "pretty girls supporting the boys" thing, but currently, games are NOT really what cheering is about. these squads - including guys and girls - got to regional, national, ect. competition. there is lots of tumbling and stunts. national competitions are sometimes on espn. most people see them at games and think thats all they do, but, from hearing cheerleaders in high school adn college talk about it, the games arent what its about.

im not a cheerleader, so thats all i know, however, we cut them short as athletes when we forget that they too, are athletes with competitions and such.

michelle