Let's hear it for E-V-E-R-Y-B-O-D-Y.
A new rule passed by a New Jersey High School is getting mixed results from parents and students. Hanover Park High School in the Garden State has instituted the policy that everyone who tries out for the cheerleading squad must make the team.
The new rule went into effect after a parent complained to school officials that their child didn't make the team after trying out last month.
When students and parents voiced their concerns over the new policy, the school's principal threatened to disband the entire program.
This is YET another reason to worry about the type of adults that result from the "everybody is a winner" philosophy. This isn't how the real world operates. It's especially not how AMERICA operates - a country which should strive for equal opportunity but NOT guarantee equal results.
I had the honor of playing for a football team that won a state championship when I was in high school. I must use the term, "playing" lightly. I mostly rode the bench. The other players were better than me.
I was good at many things in school. Athletics was not one of them. I wonder if this New Jersey high school will now mandate that everyone makes every athletic team for which they try out - and if everyone MUST PLAY.
What say you? Is this another example of the "participation trophy" generation? Are there some team sports that some people just aren't qualified to play? Or should everyone be allowed to play because school should be open to everybody?