So my 5 year old daughter wants to get into Cheerleading?

I know I have to let her do what she wants to do sometimes and It's not all about what I want.
Click to expand...
It is about neither. It is about letting her do what she wants to do if it is the right thing to do.

I want her to play TEAM sports not jump around with Pom Pom's shaking her booty to single ladies.
Click to expand...
Ask her what she likes about cheerleading. Find a new activity/hobby/sport that matches that precise liking, and introduce her to it. It may work and might help to find her true talent.
 
Hm. At five years old my mom was forcing me to play violin. I hated every second of it, but I still had to do it. When I got to be on about 9 or 10, I still hated doing it, so I was allowed to quit.

I don't think she gets a say in the matter. If you feel one is better than the other, then that's what she should be doing. If you have the kind of relationship with her that stresses critical thinking (e.g. not just telling your kid to do it "because I said so" but because of logical, thought out talking points), then explain to her why soccer is better for her overall physical and emotional development than is cheerleading. They're both fun, but one stresses cardio and a team (not dog-eat-dog) mentality, while the other pretty much just serves the plight of the boys who are out there actually playing sports.

The biggest problem with cheerleading is that it is NOTHING like it was back in, say, the 80s or even early 90s. If you're in competetive cheerleading, there are some SERIOUS injuries that occur on that front. I would seriously urge you to show your daughter the results of competetive cheerleading -- the fractured spines and destroyed collarbones, etc -- all things that won't happen kicking a ball on soft grass.

The other big issue with cheerleading is the over-sexualized nature of it. There's probably ten new videos on YouTube everyday showing some cheerleaders giving lap dances in an assembly. The creepy coaches and teachers have turned cheerleading into stripper prep classes.

If I had a daughter I would not want her to consider herself (or to have others consider her) a overly sexualized entity before she's even in high school.

Obviously it depends on what kind of school district you're in; the more affluent schools don't typically troll their kids around like prostitutes, but regardless of where the girl is, "cheerleader" has a mystique about it that you might not want to encourage in your daughter. Obviously at 5 there isn't much to worry about in the way of exploitation, but you'd be shocked at how fast (see: junior high) these girls are made to start jiggling their asses and talk smack and grind against one another for the audience's amusement. And if she's already been in the game for 10 years, it might get near to impossible to pull her out as her entire social structure will be based on the culture of cheerleader.
 
it's sort of like two trains heading towards each other. one train represents your daughter's cheerleading career. the other train represents your role as a father.

they'll meet at a place called, "that's it, i'm getting my shotgun!"
 
Look man,

My two are in their 20s now. I've been through the cheelerleader, volleyball, soccer (I've been coaching soccer for 17 years), boys, sneaking out, sex x2, engagement x2, breakup, etc. You're worrying for nothing. Let her go cheerlead. When she's 10, try to find a couple of directed activities for her.

Girls want to be like the pretty girls they see on TV. Boys want to be like the quarterbacks or basketball players, or hockey players they see on TV. Let her be a kid. you've got eons of time to start directing her activities.
 
Wheeeew! For a second, I thought I had logged into SOCCERMoms instead of DVXUser.

My two-year-old daughter has four brothers. I don't think she'll need any encouragement to play sports. She already wrestles with them and can hold her own.
 
Batutta said:
Funny, as last week my 6 year old daughter had her first horse riding lesson...I'm more scared of her watching icarly again!
Click to expand...

My niece started lessons when she was 6 (she is 7 now), she loves it and is going to her horse back riding camp again this summer. Her parents don't let her watch tv, I'm not even sure if they have a tv anymore. She lives in LA and has no idea who britney spears is, pretty hard to do. Ohh yea, she also plays soccer and is really competitive.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top