Your thoughts: Is cheerleading too dangerous?

not anymore dangerous than the football they cheerlead. boombaye

CNN: Dead athletes' brains show damage from concussions

Physician's Warning: those who perform physical activity are at risk of getting injured.

To quote a previous poster whose comment has since been deleted, "No."

All people, and young people especially, need outlets to take risks. That's a healthy and necessary part of life. You know, like having to put up with short but honest answers to closed questions even when you disagree with them.

I agree with hunh!!! There is no reason for anyone to think about pulling the plug on cheerleading. Thats crazy. There is a risk, but there is also a risk driving a car too....

Matt and saintkatih: Sure, all physical activity raises an individual's risk of injury to a certain degree. But the point of the study was to show there is a disproportionate amount of serious injury related to this particular physical activity. Perhaps a better question is, "Do you think the increased risk of catastrophic injury in cheerleading is a reasonable risk and what additional precautions, if any, do you think need to be taken to make cheerleading safer?"

Perhaps if cheerleaders went back to "leading cheers" and stop dancing and all the high flying manuevers there would be a radical drop in associated injuries...being thrown in the air 10 to 15 ft and hoping someone will catch you is not cheering your team on...and I was on the Avondale JV Squad in 1968...we cheered

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It's hard to base on opinion on the "soft facts" provided here. Catastrophic injury is quoted and then the statistics given are for ALL injuries, which could be everything from a torn fingernail to a broken spine. What we're actually talking about is 31 catastrophic injuries nationally in 2007-08, compared to the next highest, 3, in field hockey [source: http://www.unc.edu/depts/nccsi/]. Not good, but still a tiny tiny number of people compared to the population as a whole. 43,000 people are killed in car accidents in the USA every year. Another 2.9 million people are injured.

Girls are about 100,000 times safer taking part in cheerleading than they are crossing the road--even with the worst coaches in America. So, should more be done to look after the welfare of cheerleaders? Sure! But it's not that difficult. If you read the article (refered to above), you'll find that the UMHS already has recommendations regarding what you should look for in a cheerleading coach. Stay smart, stay safe.

djm12652: And in 1968, tennis players used wooden rackets, football players wore leather helmets, hockey players wore no helmets at all, and women weren't encouraged to play physically demanding sports because it wasn't considered "ladylike". I consider progress to be a good thing!

In terms of the original question about whether cheerleading is "too dangerous" and what more should be done to prevent injuries, I think the U of M study linked provides a pretty comprehensive list of what should be done: more forgiving flooring, better trained coaches, and an emphasis on safety.

Cheerleading or any other physical activity in high school needs supervision by trainers who know what is age appropriate...the days of "no pain no gain" thankfully should be gone as well as the life long injuries incurred by pleasing overzealous coaches.

Sorry to be so aggressive with Occam's Razor here, but all they really need to do is stop the dangerous stunts. For example, a four-body tall pyramid looks cool, but it isn't worth the risk, especially for the person at the top. Ultimately, too, it doesn't really add anything to the sporting event.

It seems that in this era of "extreme sports," we expect too much out of our cheerleaders. Let cheerleaders lead cheers and let gymnasts do gymnastics in a controlled environment with proper training and medical supervision.

"...isn't worth the risk" to who? To you? Clearly not. To the people taking part, clearly it is worth the risk or they wouldn't do it. All they need to understand is exactly what that risk entails. Then it's their choice, their basic freedom to decide.

one thing i am sure of: cheerleading is not a sport!

Yes, Cheerleading is a sport, I mean just like anything else can be a sport. Things change, sports evolve, I mean let's keep it real here. I don't think it's too dangerous, I just think that steps should be taken in case of mistakes. I would think the coaches should have procedures to make sure their squad is safe.

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