No daughter of mine...!!!

When I read this story about legal restrictions on high school cheerleaders, my first thought was "Where are their PARENTS?" Seriously! The story is right -- some of the "dance moves" you see from high school cheerleaders would be more appropriate in a strip club than at a school athletic event. But each one of these girls has a parent (hopefully two) out there who is watching her strut around in a short skirt and showing off her...errr...feminine wiles unchecked. The parents should be saying, "Sorry, honey, but you're too important to be put on display like a piece of meat."

I didn't cheer in high school -- I wasn't part of the right clique. Heck, I wasn't part of any clique. I'm okay with cheerleading as a "school spirit" thing -- you know, getting people to shout "D-D-D-DEE-FENCE" when your team is actually playing defense or cheering "Mike, Mike, he's our guy, he's from Central Senior High!" when Mike nails a three-point shot or scores touchdown or something. And I'm okay with cheerleading as a sport, with a trainer and advanced gymnastics stunts and all that. What I'm not okay with is cheerleading as the soft-porn entertainment on the sidelines during the boring part of athletic contests. Especially not when it involves young women who are still minors and still trying to figure out how to be themselves.

But the protection for these girls ought to come from their moms and dads, not the state.

--Sparki