“Texas middle school cheerleaders suffer first and second degree burns
after punishment from coach”
I feel like there's something really important to understand
even beyond this particular incident
so what happened here was there was a cheerleading squad in eighth grade
which means they would have been around 13 years old
they were being punished by the coach for cheerleader reasons
they had performed a cheer that they'd been told not to do or something
and their punishment was
they would go out to the track and do bear crawls and crab walks for a mile
just for reference this is a bear crawl
this is a crab walk so they were to do that for one mile around the track
the problem was this was a hot
sunny afternoon in Texas and the surface of the track was at around 125 degrees
the children had told the coach it was burning their hands
the coach said do it anyway
in other words that was part of the punishment
the 13 girls wound up with first and second degree burns
at least one of them had to be treated at a burn unit
the children had went to see the school nurse and got treated
but it should be noted that the nurse did not inform anyone
they didn't see anything wrong here
it was only when the kids came home and told their parents
that the parents complained and action was taken
the school immediately came out and acknowledged that it happened
and that the coach had been placed on administrative leave
but I'm not just bringing this up so we can get our daily dose of outrage
everyone needs to know - parents
teachers kids
one of the most difficult lessons in life for a kid to learn
is how to relate to authority
because especially if you are a “good Christian kid”
your disposition is always going to be to do what the grownups tell you
and if you listen to authority figures
they spend all their time complaining that the kids these days
you can't tell them anything
they don't listen they don't pay attention
kids must be taught that there are times when it is okay to defy authority
or to question why something is being done
many if not most of us will reach adulthood
even well into adulthood with no concept of when or if it's okay to do that
there are adults in this world
who cannot be trusted to have power over someone smaller and weaker than them
and they know that many
if not most kids are terrified of the nebulous idea of being in trouble
and you will be shocked at how far they can push things
before somebody eventually pushes back
and maybe the weirdest and most chilling example I've heard of
is one that I can't even talk about here
because any of the details would get this video pulled
you can search “Mount Washington McDonald's incident” if you wanna read about it
they actually made a film about it called Compliance
I'm not trying to stir up a rage mob against the school or this coach
this has already made headlines
the school already knows they're in trouble
make this a learning moment
none of the kids involved thought they had any option but to comply
and to be absolutely clear
I am not blaming the parents for not raising kids that knew to say no to this
most kids would have done the same
I would have done the same at that age
I am specifically saying that for a “good kid”
it is an incredibly difficult lesson to learn and then internalize
the key is understanding that the world is full of people in positions of power
who know they can take advantage of that
it took me a long time to learn that
part of surviving in this life is knowing when it's okay to break the rules