HIGH SCHOOL GROUPS: CHEERLEADERS

If you compare high school to being in a Royal Kingdom then cheerleaders have
to be the ladies-in-waiting. And they were waiting for it …and they expected it.
This small pool of carefully selected women were the queens to be, the future
girlfriends of the jocks and the girls who broke your heart or left you with permanent
self esteem scars. They were glossy…they were bossy and they knew a thing or two
about shaking their pompoms.

It may have been Game Night for the jocks…but it was center stage for the cheerleaders

, and they knew it. They had the bouncy curls , the little-girl hair ribbons and the neatly

pressed shorter-than-short pleated skirts. Nothing, however, could disguise the display

of Lolita-esque hormones in the sanctity of the organized sport arena. Sort of like being

a pole dancer without the guilt.. It was catnip for teenage boys.

Being a cheerleader now isn’t the same. Cheerleading is a sport…….it’s all about being

a gymnast, a precision dancer, a perfectionist. Back-in-the-day it was about being popular

, being competitive in the social arena and being part of the privileged crowd. Short on

skills…long on attitude. That’s why every teen movie shows the mean girls as cheerleaders.

I have to confess that I was a cheerleader all through high school. I took what was handed

 to me. Great jock boyfriends and the self confidence to take my rightful place on the school newspaper, the yearbook anything I wanted. I’ve had my share of successes and failures….

but I never lack the courage to go for anything I want.

There’s a lot to be said for the mindless dancing tributes to high school athletes on a

field or court surrounded by screaming fans. And when you’re chanting “we’ve got

 the fever…we’re hot…we can’t be stopped..”…..It was just way too easy to think

 it included you.

WHERE HAVE ALL THE PROM QUEENS GONE?

DO YOU EVER REALLY LEAVE HIGH SCHOOL?

Did you sit at the cool kids table in high school surrounded by the popular kids?…or did
you sit alone wondering when the prom queen or hunky jock was finally going to recognize
you? You have to admit you knew exactly who you were in high school. You knew your
place. High School for many was the equivalent to sticking a knitting needle in your eye
socket and going to bed with a migraine. New studies from Rutgers indicate that high school
is indeed a sadistic institution which shapes us forever. Was it?

We all know that maneuvering within the social confines of a high school society is a little like penetrating a secret cult. Chances are that prom queen never did see beyond the metal mouth
and the slight brush of acne. The question I pose is this….do you ever leave high school? Are
you doomed for a life of quite desperation and acceptance… or a life of “what-the-hell-is-wrong
-with-these-people….I was in the popular clique?”

I’ve been asking this question for years and have gotten the most incredible answers. Some
people are true professional successes who never feel good enough and others are still
waiting for life to hand them the prizes they feel entitled to.  High School is pretty much
a common experience. But can you leave it behind and get on with your life? I thought I
did. I loved high school until my Air Force dad brought us from England to the Bible Belt.
So I can see both sides.

I began researching high school several years ago with my former CNN colleague and good
friend Joanne Lechleiter. We took a survey and took a look at the common groups and
experiences we had in the sixties and seventies. You know, the cheerleaders, the jocks,
the bad boys, the bandies….and of course, the prom queens. We were so fascinated we wrote a screenplay...with the obvious title Where Have All the prom Queens gone.

So brush off those tiaras and football trophies , clarinets and leather jackets. Class is in
Session .This is your time. I will be blogging a weeks worth of high school.So please
send me your horror stories, your tears, your wtf moments.