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Guidance for Grown-Ups
March 2007
Cheering for Respect
Is Cheerleading a Sport?
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This Discussion Guide contains the following Activity Sections:
- The Answers to Your Questions
- Problem Solving: Exploring Options, Giving Advice
- Make a Historical and Global Connection: Changing Options
I. The Answers to Your Questions
The purpose of this activity is to understand cheerleading within the context of girls' participation in school-sanctioned sports.
- To gain an historic perspective of women and sports participation in the United States, either ask the teens to read "Women's Pre-Title IX Sports History in the United States, " or summarize it for them.
- Read Kristen Cifuni's article in Teen Voices about why she thinks cheerleading is a sport.
- Using the previous two articles for reference, ask the teens to discuss the following questions: Why does Kristen Cifuni feel the need to define cheerleading as a sport? What is at stake for her? What is at stake for other teen girls? How about teen boys? For an added activity, ask the teens to google "Is cheerleading a sport? " to get a sense of how pervasive this question is.
- How much do the teens know about the history of cheerleading in the United States? How about its global popularity? Ask them to conduct individual research or assign reading from the resources below.
II. Problem Solving: Exploring Options, Giving Advice
The purpose of this activity is to encourage the teens to become familiar with Title IX and to gain the tools to assess their school for gender equity in its sports program.
- Title IX is an incredibly complicated piece of legislation but it has impacted millions of lives. Ask the teens to choose a method for learning the basics of the law, including when and why it was enacted, what it protects or insures, and how it is enforced. They can break into small groups, read about it on their own, or hear from a peer who has researched the topic in advance.
- Ask the teens to break into small groups. Then ask them to brainstorm and write down criteria for gender equity in their school. If they wanted to assess gender equity, what would be their first step?
- Introduce the teens to the Practical Guide To Assessing and Getting Gender Equity. Could the teens create a strategy to assess their school? Whose help would they need? Where would they report the results?
III. Make a Historical and Global Connection: Changing Options
The purpose of this activity is to think critically about why both cheerleading and Title IX are such hotly debated topics.
- Ask the teens to poll the older women in their families about their involvement in sports. How many played on sports teams for their schools? How many played college athletics? If they want, they can keep a running total and later compare it to the older men in their family.
- Is the image of a cheerleader distinctly American? Ask the teens to brainstorm a list of all the media images of a cheerleader—from books, movies, or television. Ask them to consider: What is the stereotype? How does that stereotype harm those who participate? What about the icon of the cheerleader is attractive to American culture? How much does the stereotype have to do with sports or athleticism?
Resources
- Save Title IX position paper: www.savetitleix.com
- Position papers from The American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators: www.aacca.org
Media Images of Cheerleader - samples:
- Any Given Sunday - movie
- Bring it On - movie
- But I'm a Cheerleader - movie
- Superstar - movie
- Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders
- "Heroes" - television show
- On The Inside: Cheerleading-Blood, Sweat And Cheers - documentary
Have you used Guidance for Grown-ups with your class or teen group? Tell us which ones you used and what kind of success you had with it. Did you put your own spin on it? Let us know.
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