How to get them off their phones and on the mat
By Brian Payne
Recent years have seen an incredible rate of progress in media technology, specifically in cell phones, with all kinds of wonderful functions and gadgets. Rather than being a portable means of communication for emergencies (the No. 1 reason that teens and preteens beg for their own phone), it’s become a required accessory. Who do you know who doesn’t have a cell phone?
The Pew Internet and American Life Project says that the mobile phone has become the preferred communication hub for the majority of American teens. As of April 2010, 75 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds own cell phones, up from 45 percent in 2004. Eighty-eight percent of teen cell phone users are texters, up from 51 percent in 2006, according to Amanda Lenhart, senior research specialist for Pew.
Is it an addiction? One in three teens sends more than 100 text messages a day, or 3,000 texts a month. Half of them send 50 or more text messages a day, or 1,500 texts a month.
Since cheerleaders represent a cross section of the population, it stands to reason that problems with texting would also enter into the cheerleading domain, and it has. Consider the following situations, as related by several coaches of all-star teams and school programs, and see if the athletes’ behavior could reflect some of what may be happening in your program.
- Cheerleaders walk into practice, looking down at their cell phone screens and managing not to trip and fall over anything on their way to the storage bins. As they unload their personal items into their storage spaces, they still try to squeeze in a few more words before setting down their precious lifelines. Are they focused on the upcoming workout? Are they mentally prepared to take on the task at hand? Will precious minutes be spent getting them into the mindset for pratice?
- A cell phone goes off during practice while the coach is speaking to the group. How many people turn and look, even though it’s not their ringtone? The coach has a policy that all cell phones in the gym need to be turned off or put on vibrate, and everybody knows this, so why is it still happening? Is it so important that the cheerleader know when a call or text comes in that she’s willing to risk push-ups, running laps or losing her phone?
- There’s a brief pause in the workout—not a break by any means—while the coach explains technique or timing to a stunt group. A cheerleader in another stunt group has maneuvered herself close enough to the storage cubbies or lockers to dash over to her phone and take a quick look to see if anyone has called, leaving the rest of her group in danger of getting yelled at if the action resumes. The rest of the team wishes they could also run over and check their messages. What were cheer practices like in the last century before cell phones and texting? How did we manage to make it through a two-hour workout without needing to know how many people were trying to get ahold of us with “life or death” information?
- A cheerleader asks to use the restroom, but first she swings by to get her cell phone to take in with her. She eventually comes out, visibly distraught and unfocused. The text she received about her boyfriend not taking her to the prom will bother her for the rest of practice and affect all those around her. That information could have waited until after practice, and having access to it sooner doesn’t change the situation. It does, however, affect her stunt group, since they’re going to ask what’s wrong. Brief conversations about it aren’t going to improve things, but instead will create a distraction that could prove hazardous when people are thrown into the air.
- It’s time for a water break, and some cheerleaders go without water in order to text a few more times before practice resumes. What if the cheerleader becomes dehydrated, dizzy and drops someone during a stunt sequence, leading to an injury? What if the text-crazy tumbler loses focus during a tumbling pass as a result of not enough water and bails out at high speed? Should they be allowed to go get water in the middle of a dance, stunt or in line for tumbling when they had the opportunity during the official water break and wasted the chance on their thumbs-only addiction?
- At a recent gym party/workout/movie night/team bonding event, a group of five junior squad members get their cell phones, lie down in a circle in a corner of the gym and spend a half hour texting each other instead of interacting with other members of the team and participating in big muscle activities. The coach is upset that the original intention of the evening is spoiled by technology and a lack of social graces.
If any of these things have happened in your program, you may want to consider the following:
- All cell phones go into a box when entering the gym, with ringers shut off or silenced. Whatever it is, it can wait until the end of practice. The box is place in the coach’s office, and that’s just the way it is.
- Let parents know that cell phones need to be left in the car with them when they drop off their children, or at the receptionist’s desk until the end of practice.
- If friends call or text during practice, the athlete gets 50 push-ups, or the whole squad gets 50 push-ups.
- Let all parents and athletes know that if the only reason a cell phone is in the gym is in case of emergencies, that in the event of a real emergency, parents will show up at the gym.
If there’s some big emergency call from home, please let parents know that they need to call the gym first so everyone’s on the same page. The adult receptionist or coach answering the business phone is likely to get the facts straight, and the cheerleader won’t be able to give “partial truths” about why or when she needs to leave. You don’t want every cheerleader running to her personal cell phone during practice anticipating that it “could” be an emergency. Would you want somebody in your daughter’s stunt group to run to the phone while she was up in a Scorpion or bracing a pyramid?
Comments are closed.