Scandal: Cheerleaders Run Amok in Texas | Newsweek Culture

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The parties involved, of course, dispute these conclusions. Theret's attorney, Bob Hinton, says that she was doing her best to control her recalcitrant daughter and that as principal, she propelled the school to the "pinnacle" of academic excellence—a point that Jones agrees with. One of the Fab Five claims that their depiction as "Girls Gone Wild" is unjustified. Critics "made us out to be people we're not," she says. Ward didn't return calls for comment.

At McKinney North, the tumult is finally beginning to subside. None of the Fab Five remain on the team, according to one of the ousted cheerleaders. Theret recently reached a settlement with the school board, agreeing to resign in exchange for a payment of around $75,000 and a letter of recommendation. In her wake, an interim principal has been named. "We want to move on," says a McKinney schools spokesman. Perhaps now that the reign of the Fab Five is over, they can.

The school system is fortunate. A very similar culture existed at Columbine. School systems tend to draw less than mature adults as employees. Such teachers and administrators more easily become overly attached to extracurricular achievements of the school. These folks tend to feel and think more in adolescent terms. I suspect it is the same dynamic that leads some to have romantic relationships with students. They identify with and want affirmation from the students who they rightly sense are not terribly unlike them. Of course this is not true of all teaching professionals, but it does seem pretty pervasive. If this daynamic is relatively reinforced by a local culture (typically occurring in small towns and suburban settings), it is unlikely to change. After one leaves school to, for example, to go away to college (the farther and more demanding the college, the better in this case), returning to the envioronment is akin to walking into an old TV show. It all seems so alien -- "how could I have ever thought that important?" is a typical response. I wish we could make the kids aware that their culture is insignificantly small in the larger picture, that life is about entirely different things. Since it is primarily a school-fostered point of view (no not another blame the parents issue), I can't see it changing -- there will be more self-embarrassing nymphets and more Columbines so long as we blame the wrong folks, the parents. Yes, they exist, but to blame them gives the "professionals" license to continue as they have.

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Posted By: Bear-Foot @ 09/17/2009 7:01:57 AM

In this case, the professional was the parent.
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Posted By: Observerguy @ 08/23/2009 5:58:58 PM

The school system is fortunate. A very similar culture existed at Columbine. School systems tend to draw less than mature adults as employees. Such teachers and administrators more easily become overly attached to extracurricular achievements of the school. These folks tend to feel and think more in adolescent terms. I suspect it is the same dynamic that leads some to have romantic relationships with students. They identify with and want affirmation from the students who they rightly sense are not terribly unlike them. Of course this is not true of all teaching professionals, but it does seem pretty pervasive. If this daynamic is relatively reinforced by a local culture (typically occurring in small towns and suburban settings), it is unlikely to change. After one leaves school to, for example, to go away to college (the farther and more demanding the college, the better in this case), returning to the envioronment is akin to walking into an old TV show. It all seems so alien -- "how could I have ever thought that important?" is a typical response. I wish we could make the kids aware that their culture is insignificantly small in the larger picture, that life is about entirely different things. Since it is primarily a school-fostered point of view (no not another blame the parents issue), I can't see it changing -- there will be more self-embarrassing nymphets and more Columbines so long as we blame the wrong folks, the parents. Yes, they exist, but to blame them gives the "professionals" license to continue as they have.
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Posted By: tom343 @ 08/23/2009 3:39:06 PM

The institution of cheer leading and the over emphasis on high school sports seems to constantly lead to things that detract from the real purpose of school. Both could be done away with at no loss at all. The alternative is to use the good offices of the school and the parents to bring these male and female prima donas to heel.