In all truth I don’t really care what my children participate in when they get older as long as they participate in something. It could be sports, dance, music, arts, theatre, etc. All I desire is that they are a part of something greater than themselves and feel passionately about it.
That being said I have feelings of strong opposition to football and cheerleading. Now, I admit that when I was in high school and even in college I belonged to the "athlete’s" crowd or the jocks. We did not think very highly of the cheerleaders and much of that was brought on by the fact that we didn’t consider them to be "real" athletes that participated in a "real" sport. They also had a tendency to be morally challenged, if ya know what I mean. (I’m not making a statement about all cheerleaders before all you former cheerleaders start an uproar. I am speaking specifically of the girls on the squad at my school) They fit many of the stereotypes of airheads.
I realize cheerleading has evolved over the years and has become hardcore in many circles. It is no longer just a bunch of floozies bouncing around yelling cute little rhymes. They train and condition similar to many athletes in actual sports. Despite the evolution of cheerleading I still oppose my child’s participation in either that or football, especially when they are still in fact children. Ironically, it is for none of the reasons I have mentioned above. (That was just a neat little side story)
It is for one reason only: safety. Football and cheerleading have the highest incident of injury (and I’m talking catastrophic injuries) and death. No other sport even comes close. Part of the issue with cheerleading specifically is that the stunts are becoming more risky and more dangerous and many of the coaches aren’t really qualified to be teaching or supervising these types of routines. As long as this continues we will continue to see the incident of injuries and fatalities rise.
I cringe when I see little girls (5 to 13 years of age) participating in such a dangerous activity and parents downplaying the risks that they are exposing their children to. This week the results of a study were released to support my stance. This should not come as a surprise to anyone. I’ve attached the link to the article below.
I do realize that there are inherent risks with any sport and my child could get injured at any point. I hurt myself many times over the years playing basketball. Some serious and some relatively minor. Fortunately, I suffered nothing catastrophic or career ending or fatal. However, I also know those risks greatly increase with participation in football and cheerleading. The injury reports and data collected over the years support that. I realize that there are thousands who participate each year on football teams and cheerleading squads and go their lifetime without an injury, but I am just not willing to risk it when it comes to my child. I just don’t think it is worth it.
What activities/sports would you not want your child to participate in? What are the reasons behind that decision? If you do have children that participate in football and cheerleading do you worry about the risk of serious injury?
http://news.aol.com/health/article/girls-most-dangerous-sport-cheerleading/130652?icid=100214839x1207583372x1200401808
3 comments:
Well, my husband played football and I was a cheerleader! My son played football for 7 years - 3 pop warner and 4 high school. My husband broke his arm one year and my son broke a bone in his elbow at the start of his junior year on a fluke.
Surprisingly it was my husband who wasn't keen on his playing football. But I LOVE football, as a cheerleader I was the only one who knew what was going on on the field. My brother in law was a high school coach while my son was young and he went to all his football camps and LEARNED the proper way to hit etc. Even when he was injured we were all bummed but we made sure he followed doctor's orders and did all his physical therapy and he's never had an issue with his elbow.
Heck he was on the TRACK TEAM and partially tore the muscle at the top of his hip off the bone on the last leg of a 4x100 relay. That injury involved doctor's visits and an MRI and no activity for a month.
Cheerleading is not now what it was when I was one - although we were allowed to go higher than they do now! We just didn't do all that flinging of each other which I can't stand. Again, with the proper training it doesn't have to be dangerous.
With that said, my niece and nephew by marriage both have played basketball for years and have endured more ankle, knee, leg ailments and injuries. Why? Because their parents don't know how to be be the parents and say "No - three teams in one season are too many, you'll be practicing and playing 7 days a week pick one, pick two but you're taking some time off". That's another reason why I enjoyed football more than any other sport because unlike bball, baseball or soccer it's ONLY in the fall. Adults don't become obsessed with building the biggest and bestest team. In addition, it's the only sport that I think truly works on the "team" concept. You can't have a star running back without blockers to create the holes or a quarterback to get the ball to him. Everyone is depending on each other.
Sorry to ramble on Moxy!
I appreciate your perspective since you have much more involvement with both football and cheerleading than I. I do agree that any sport can be dangerous especially without proper training or knowing when to take a break as you mentioned. I just really found the incident of injury to be alarming. I like to watch football and admittedly what the cheerleaders can do now is pretty impressive. I'm always fearful that they'll frop someone, though.
My husband was a football player and suffered horrible injuries during his playing days. He'd do it over again too, I think. We don't have a son but if we do I;d be real hesitant to let him play. As far as cheerleading goes, I used to cheer and never had a major injury. However my neice is a cheerleader and a teammate of hers recently broke her clavical during a stunt her parents felt was not well supervised so I do understand your concern.
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