# kid doesn't make cheerleading squad, dad SUES school! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 1, 2001, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-doesnt-make-cheerleading-squad-dad-sues-school/67206 "2001-06-01T13:52:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2001, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-doesnt-make-cheerleading-squad-dad-sues-school/67206/21 "2001-06-01T20:19:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by wring \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > _Originally posted by Sauron \* > > **Cartooniverse, please don’t use the name "R** _\*\*\* S_ **s" and the word "s** _l" in the same paragraph. Even Dark Overlords can have weak stomachs. > > > > You have been warned. \*\* > > as have you. > > 😃 \*\* Don’t make me come down there. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Crunch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@Chief\_Crunch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Crunch)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2001, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-doesnt-make-cheerleading-squad-dad-sues-school/67206/22 "2001-06-01T21:44:55Z")
Something like this happened in my high school back in the early nineties. A girl didn’t make try-outs and her affluent parents threatened the school with legal action. The rather annoying part is that the school folded immediately and held “re-tryouts” and the girl actually made the squad. I was amazed and completely lost every iota of respect I held for the integrity of high school cheerleading forever and ever. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2001, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-doesnt-make-cheerleading-squad-dad-sues-school/67206/23 "2001-06-02T18:34:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Spavined Gelding \* > Also, it is an axiom among lawyers that if it were not for stupidity, greed and lust there would not be much law work. I have a rabbi friend who expanded that: “But not for deceit and discord, there would be no call for lawyers or clergy.” Sua ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2001, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-doesnt-make-cheerleading-squad-dad-sues-school/67206/24 "2001-06-02T20:51:05Z")
Personally, I would sue if my child made the cheerleading squad. ---
**Author:** ![DRY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@DRY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DRY)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2001, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-doesnt-make-cheerleading-squad-dad-sues-school/67206/25 "2001-06-03T08:12:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sauron \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by wring \* > > \*\* > > > > > [@](#): > > > > > > _Originally posted by Sauron \* > > > **Cartooniverse, please don’t use the name "R** _\*\*\* S_ **s" and the word "s** _l" in the same paragraph. Even Dark Overlords can have weak stomachs. > > > > > > You have been warned. \*\* > > > > as have you. > > > > 😃 \*\* > > Don’t make me come down there. \*\* **Sauron** , using “R\*\*\*\*\*\* S_ **s" and "s** _l” in the same paragraph makes you “come down there”? :eek: _fleeing_ ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2001, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-doesnt-make-cheerleading-squad-dad-sues-school/67206/26 "2001-06-03T17:21:09Z")
In the book I’ve lately been reading “Dumbing Down,” the author reports that colleges have been slapped with tons of lawsuits citing “academic fraud” for flunking kids out of school. Basically, from the parents’ point of view, they paid for a diploma, and what do you mean my kid has to actually PASS his tests to get it? Is it just me, or does it seem to be un-PC in America these days to reward/select people based on merit? Why do people seem to think that they’re entitled to something, even though they can’t demonstrate the prerequisits for the position/reward? ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2001, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-doesnt-make-cheerleading-squad-dad-sues-school/67206/27 "2001-06-03T17:26:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by wring \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > _Originally posted by Sauron \* > > **Cartooniverse, please don’t use the name "R** _\*\*\* S_ **s" and the word "s** _l" in the same paragraph. Even Dark Overlords can have weak stomachs. > > > > You have been warned. \*\* > > as have you. > > 😃 \*\* You can’t possibly think it was an accident. 😛 My apologies to the Dark Overlords. \<—guffawing mightily Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2001, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-doesnt-make-cheerleading-squad-dad-sues-school/67206/28 "2001-06-03T17:36:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by obfusciatrist \* > \*\*Regardless of whether this is an unjustified lawsuit, I would just like to point out that the girl is likely to never again be selected for ANYTHING during her high school career. \*\* I was thinking the same thing. Seems to me that Daddy just went painted a big 'ole **L** on baby’s forehead(for _loser_). Even if what Daddy alleges is true, the kid looks bad. Even if he somehow manages to get her on the squad, she will most likely be ostracized by her peers. Hey, if she gets on, that means somebody else get kicked off to make room. And there will be the assumption that her talent was lacking and it was only her Daddy’s influence that got her on. This kid is marked. And on a seperate note, how the hell does this end up in _federal_ court??? ---
**Author:** ![Tricia\_Valentine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9a140/32.png) [@Tricia\_Valentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tricia_Valentine)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2001, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-doesnt-make-cheerleading-squad-dad-sues-school/67206/29 "2001-06-03T17:59:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tripler \* > \*\* > I wholeheartedly agree. I don’t even understand the whole enigmatic underworld of High School Color Guard/Marching Band. Apparently it’s pretty cliquish and political, according to my Mom. If you ask me, it’s a totally useless and fruitless endeavor (nevermind _expensive_). I don’t know what “skills” twirling a flag develops. > > Tripler > I never did any of that crap - I had two jobs. I profited with my time. \*\* I have 2 jobs- And not only do I do marching band, I do drum corps, which requires 10 times the committment, (yet costs less!), and run track. The “skills” twirling developed in me is coordination- I used to be a klutz, I’m not half as bad anymore. It also develops committment, time management, and leadership skills. Besides some muscle control. Back on topic, one girl at my school said she was “too good” to be left out of the varsity track meet, even though her times didn’t make the cut. She wondered why she wasn’t running, and suspected it was because she was a sophomore. Besides the fact that a freshman runs amazing times and she barely made the cut… I’m done ranting now. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2001, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-doesnt-make-cheerleading-squad-dad-sues-school/67206/30 "2001-06-03T18:16:02Z")
When I was in Junior High, which at the time was grades 7 through 9, our school didn’t have a Freshman pom-pom squad, even though we had cheerleaders for both basketball and football. I wasn’t very athletic or acrobatic and therefore wouldn’t have qualified for the cheerleading squad, but wanted to participate in our school’s “team spirit” so-to-speak, and I was a pretty good dancer, so I thought being a “pom-pom girl” would be fun. So in the 8th grade, I wrote a petition and got dozens of signatures from students and teachers to say that they’d support having a pom-pom squad and I got a teacher to be the “sponsor”. A couple of other girls wanted to help with organizing it and got members of the Sophomore squad at the high school to agree to hold tryouts and be judges and a 2nd (unnecessary - more on that later) sponsor. We then went to the vice-principal with all this in hand and got his approval to form a squad. I had to try out just like everyone else and I not only made the squad but was elected by the team, once it was chosen by the judges, to be one of their 2 co-captains. Unfortunately, the 2nd sponsor didn’t like me and decided to make my life a living hell. On one occasion, I had to miss a rehearsal because I had a final the next day that I needed to study for. Since I had choreographed the routine, it’s not like I needed to learn it and the other captain, with whom I’d created the routine, agreed to teach it to the squad without me that day. Upon hearing that I’d missed a practice, the 2nd sponsor phoned my home and promptly kicked me off the squad. Permanently. My mother went to the school and had a meeting with the teacher and the vice-principal to find out what was really going on. The conversation went something like this: My Mother: Why have you been giving my daughter such a hard time and now have kicked her off the squad for missing one practice? Teacher: Because I hate her. My Mother: Why on earth do you hate my daughter? Teacher: Because she’s a G-d damned Jew. Vice Principal (who was also Jewish, btw): \ I kid you not. And he would not reverse the decision. And my mother did nothing. Nothing. Why? (her explanation to me) Because I had a sister coming up behind me who might be assigned this teacher for a class and my mother didn’t want _her_ to have any problems with this woman, too. WTF??? Sue the bitch, have her removed from teaching, sue the school for allowing such blatant discriminatory practices and you won’t have that problem. NO other student will EVER have that problem again (at least not from that bitch). But no – we don’t want to make waves and sue people for every little perceived injustice. Horse shit. There is nothing in the attached article that indicates why some of the girls were given preferential treatment with regard to being coached in tryout routines. For all we know, there _was_ discrimination involved. And if there was, it should not go unpunished. And yes, 5 years later it still “mattered” to me that nothing was done about it. Hell, 25 years later it still pisses me off that this bitch got away with what she did. * * * Jeg elsker dig, Thomas ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2001, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-doesnt-make-cheerleading-squad-dad-sues-school/67206/31 "2001-06-03T18:59:15Z")
Wait a minute here … You can sue over being rejected? Over being turned down for something you want? I’m going to be fucking **RICH!!!** I’m going back to the bar tonight – and writing down names, this time! ---
**Author:** ![mblackwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5fc32e/32.png) [@mblackwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mblackwell)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2001, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-doesnt-make-cheerleading-squad-dad-sues-school/67206/32 "2001-06-03T19:56:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DRY \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Sauron \* > > \*\* > > > > > [@](#): > > > > > > \*Originally posted by wring \* > > > \*\* > > > > > > > [@](#): > > > > > > > > _Originally posted by Sauron \* > > > > **Cartooniverse, please don’t use the name "R** _\*\*\* S_ **s" and the word "s** _l" in the same paragraph. Even Dark Overlords can have weak stomachs. > > > > > > > > You have been warned. \*\* > > > > > > as have you. > > > > > > 😃 \*\* > > > > Don’t make me come down there. \*\* > > **Sauron** , using “R\*\*\*\*\*\* S_ **s" and "s** _l” in the same paragraph makes you “come down there”? :eek: > > _fleeing_ \*\* LOL. That almost gave me a heart attack from laughing. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2001, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-doesnt-make-cheerleading-squad-dad-sues-school/67206/33 "2001-06-04T13:45:53Z")
[mumbling to self] Well, let’s see now. What’s left on my to-do list: Take over Middle-Earth. Check. Enslave all races. Check. Feed Ringwraiths. Check. Appease Mount Doom with sacrifice. Hmmm. [Loud voice] Somebody get me that **DRY** creature! Gotta hand it to you. That one was seriously funny. ---
**Author:** ![DRY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@DRY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DRY)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2001, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-doesnt-make-cheerleading-squad-dad-sues-school/67206/34 "2001-06-05T07:50:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mblackwell \* > \*\*LOL. That almost gave me a heart attack from laughing. \*\* > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sauron \* > \*\*[Loud voice] > > Somebody get me that **DRY** creature! > > Gotta hand it to you. That one was seriously funny. \*\* Thank you, thank you, I’ll be here all week! That one was just too good (and too easy) to pass up. But **Sauron** , you’ll have to take a number. **SPOOFE** still wants his revenge upon me for the numerous “toothpaste” references I’ve made. Oops. I did it again. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2001, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-doesnt-make-cheerleading-squad-dad-sues-school/67206/35 "2001-06-06T02:55:05Z")
> [@](#): > > Oops. I did it again. You played with Richard Simmon’s heart? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2001, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-doesnt-make-cheerleading-squad-dad-sues-school/67206/36 "2001-06-06T03:31:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tricia Valentine \* > \*\* > I have 2 jobs- And not only do I do marching band, I do drum corps, which requires 10 times the committment, (yet costs less!), and run track. The “skills” twirling developed in me is coordination- I used to be a klutz, I’m not half as bad anymore. It also develops committment, time management, and leadership skills. Besides some muscle control. \*\* No different than any other endeavor, say Boy Scouts, track, football, hockey, what have you. Every hobby or job teaches “skills”. My point is that from what I’ve seen my sisters take part in on the East Coast, I simply _can’t believe_ the amount of energy some people put into something that my own sister admits the skills “won’t be worth a lick in college”. But, whatever floats yer boat. . . Tripler My little rant. I never understood the appeal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-doesnt-make-cheerleading-squad-dad-sues-school/67206.md?page=1)