Six-Year-Old Kicked Off Cheerleading Squad After Mom Questions 'Booty' Cheer (VIDEO)

Six-year-old Kennedy Tesche was kicked off of a Michigan cheerleading squad after her mother questioned the appropriateness of a cheer. "Good Morning America" talked to the Tesche family on Friday, and Kennedy's mother Jennifer explained that she took issue with the chant, "Our backs ache, our skirts are too tight, we shake our booties from left to right," calling it outdated and stereotypical. However, the league voted to keep the cheer and bump Kennedy from the team. She can rejoin next year on probation but her mom says they won't be coming back. Kennedy told the cameras, "I think I'll miss the cheers."

WATCH:

Comments

[MetrointheWoods]

01:52 PM on 09/22/2010

Well, I should be morally outraged about this 'questionable' cheer, but I'm not. I am more disturbed that this mother didn't seem to know what was going on before the performance. Most of these small leagues have cheer squads that operate 100% off of volunteer/parent support. They're usually led by either a high school cheerleader or a parent who used to cheer back in high school; judging from the age of the cheer, I'm guessing one of the mothers taught it to them.

While the choice of cheers is questionable, the fact that this mother isn't involved with the group is shameful. Parks and recreation leagues ARE DESPARATE for volunteers and will take just about any help they can get; dropping off your 6-year old isn't cutting it.

[water boy]

11:13 AM on 09/24/2010

Seriously, your dissing the mom for not knowing before the performance! And just how do you know this?

There was an article in the Royal Oak Tribune that explained the mom did know about it before the actual game performance.

Don't be so quick to judge based on a 2 paragraph article.

[copelli21]

11:15 AM on 09/22/2010

Ok, that cheer is mad old school!!

Then again, we were not 6 years old when we were singing it.

[VeronicaS]

11:16 AM on 09/21/2010

Those lyrics are totally inappropriate. Where is the line? It's NOT cute... the coach should be ashamed of herself. If she thinks that's adorable, I hope she has a 6 year old on that squad.... How adorable will it be 8 years later when your 14 year old shows up pregnant?

[cydRN]

11:37 AM on 09/20/2010

Good for this Mom! She's actively parenting her daughter and trying to show her how to act respectfully in public. Kudos!!

[Yam716]

09:16 AM on 09/20/2010

I agree with the mom; the lyrics are not appropriate for little girls.

That being said, back in my day, (early 90s) we used to sing that chant on the playground in elementary school at recess! LOL! How on earth did the hood cheer end up in white suburbia?!?!?!

[ruth606]

09:19 AM on 09/20/2010

Who knows...they sort get passed around and down. Someone else mentioned that the girls are of various races.

[Patrick Shaw]

06:31 AM on 09/20/2010

Why are there 6 year old girls cheerleaders?

When I was young the only uniform worn by a 6 year old girl was if she was in the Brownies.

And it was an character building inclusive organization meaning any girl could join and not an excluding organization with tryouts, competition and cuts lists designed for the entertainment of parents.

Pathetic

[afgail]

02:46 AM on 09/20/2010

The mother is right and the adults associated with the cheerleading organization are wrong. They retaliated against the daughter because the mother exposed them to deserved public ridicule. The organization leaders are in need of adult supervision.

[Rozanna]

02:00 AM on 09/20/2010

I'm glad this mom took a stand.

[Linda Williams]

10:52 PM on 09/19/2010

Pakistan Floods Push Malnourished Kids To The Brink: Children Need Food
This article is at this site. Why don't you ladies so concerned about cheerleading read about these children. Hopefully, it will dim the importance of this silly issue.

[Uproar]

03:28 PM on 09/20/2010

Why do you so negative assume that people concerned about this article, have not read about Pakistan, and don't care about that too? And, note that just below your comment about how all the people commenting on cheerleading don't care about Pakistan, is another comment from YOU about cheerleading, and NOT Pakistan.

[Linda Williams]

04:27 PM on 09/19/2010

Dear Mum, try music lessons. Teach her to cook. Garden. Design fashion. Paint, pictures or the porch. Build bird houses. Anything. But why cheerleading? This grossness speaks for the mentality of the exercise. Your daughter will benefit. Do you hear me, mum(s)?

[MamacitaOfLove]

07:21 PM on 09/19/2010

Are you British? My mum said 'mum' and I always love to "hear" it :)

[Linda Williams]

08:39 PM on 09/19/2010

No 3/4 German and 1/4 British, precisely so, too. We always said Mum. In school we heard others kids say Mom and if we did that we were corrected. My grandmothers were 'Mumma'. You know, I never really thought about this until I was clear into my 40's! I try not to say it but it is a habit. Yes, the British say 'mum' and the Germans say 'mutter' which has the same short 'u'. I see you are Mamacita. That is good.

[joymij]

02:56 PM on 09/19/2010

The woman was right to complain about it. Nobody worries until a pedofile is found in the crowd. I'm sure there are sick people out there that get off on hearing little 6 year old girls talk about their booties. If you have any respect fro cheerleading as a sport then you are smart enough to know that a cheer like that will never be used in any level of competition and has nothing to do with cheering on a team or getting the crowd excited, unless the crowd is full of pedofiles like i said earlier. Anybody that feels like this mother was wrong is an idiot. Be human people, 6 year olds should not be talking about tight skirts. back ashees and shaking booties. they should be talking about "catch the ball, run fast, win the game"

[lulamaebroadway]

11:56 AM on 09/19/2010

Yeah, when an adult raises a legitimate question - don't explore it, just punish her kid.

[Linda Williams]

04:27 PM on 09/19/2010

The kid is now enlightened. She should join the band.

[thinkingwomanmillstone]

05:36 PM on 09/19/2010

How about sports that are about sport not sex...soccer, softball, field hockey etc. She can be in the game not on the sidelines. For those cheerleading supporters, I realize that there is some tremendous athleticism involved but it is still all about appearance. I've been around it a lot, you will never convince me that it is a good environment for little or big girls.

[ruth606]

09:05 PM on 09/19/2010

how judgemental of you.

[MollieinATL]

11:30 AM on 09/19/2010

OK - I know I'm going to get slammed - but what is with this little girl cheerleading? We didn't have it where and when I grew up and really didn't see it until I moved to Georgia.

Why??? Who are they cheering? What is the point?

I think it's creepy.

[thinkingwomanmillstone]

05:37 PM on 09/19/2010

It goes right into the same category as pageants, parade queens, raising your girls to be somebody's trophy.

[Linda Williams]

10:40 PM on 09/19/2010

Thank you. For thinking. When one gets down to it this junk is no different than making women wear burgas. It's a devaluation system. It does not require a feminist to come to this conclusion. It requires using one's brain.Did you know the first woman to receive a doctorate was denied receiving it on the U.'s grounds? It was a scandal that her father encouraged her to study. Fortunately, daddy was wealthy and could overcome the protest for her. It's to bad our culture does not have more wealthy people pulling for people's rights and welfare. F&F

[bridgeman]

08:32 PM on 09/19/2010

alpharetta is worse....

[kel]

10:39 AM on 09/19/2010

Since I had a daughter who did this sport at the age of 8, I can relate.
I do have respect for it as a sport, and can tell you since a lot of girls start to do it very early on the level of expertise come High School is a lot different. No need to get hostile.

[Linda Williams]

04:29 PM on 09/19/2010

It is not a sport. Try taking it to the olympics. Sorry. It's fannity-vanity.

[ruth606]

10:08 PM on 09/19/2010

It depends on who you ask - a federal judge recently said that for the purposes of Title IX universities cannot classify cheering as a sport because they do not compete.

So with that in mind...competitive Cheerleading should rightfully be described as a sport. The Wisconsin Supreme court ruled that cheering is not only a sport, but a contact sport.

Whether or not it can be found at the Olympics is completely irrelevant. American Football is a non-Olympic sport, but a sport nevertheless. Do you really consider Ping-Pong and Synchronized Swimming to be sports?

[dinsquared]

07:42 AM on 09/21/2010

Have you ever seen college/professional level cheerleading, Linda? You couldn't possibly have and at the same time call it 'fannity-vanity'. Regardless of whether it's currently organized enough to be a sport, these women (and men) are ATHLETES. It's as athletic as competitive gymnastics and at least as dangerous.

[thinkingwomanmillstone]

05:40 PM on 09/19/2010

I've been around it a lot. Watch the documentaries that cover the high level competition. The girls first comments about the other teams are never..Did you see their tumbling or their this trick or that . ..they are always Did you see how fat they were or how ugly their hair and costumes were? You can talk abou the athleticism all you want but it's still all about appearance and populalrity.

[kel]

05:36 AM on 09/20/2010

Yes yes yes it's about that too. It's vicious come competition day.
All I am saying is that it takes a lot (tumbling, throwing girls up, coordination, and moves and dancing) to make a great squad. I have respect for it (as yes there is a lot to it then looking pretty) having survived a season.

My kids do sports like rowing, field hockey and yes, curling... mock that all you want.
But I'm not out there trying to change the coaches plays.

[lefty2026]

03:55 PM on 09/20/2010

I sadly agree. I loved and continue to love sports where woman are unfortunatley judged on irrelevant aspects of their performance. The movie Stick It was a silly, but relevant commentary.

[dotherightthingmookie1]

10:56 PM on 09/18/2010

OK folks. I am AfAm and I heard the song before and I sang it as a little girl, but it was not a "cheer". It was a goofy song we (the children) sang probably passed down by some naughty teenagers, in fact I know it was. For me (and get your fingers ready because I'm sure someone will have a righteous retort) I am concerned that in the name of being "hip" and "with it" many of these shall we say alabaster schools are picking so-called "ethnic songs" for their "cheers". And their not positive ones either. Stop trying to be something you are not. It is not "kewl". It's making you look foolish and the children look bad.

[Turtleposer]

02:11 AM on 09/19/2010

Thanks for enlightening us. Although I appear as a turtle, I am indeed "alabaster". I think a lot of us aren't aware that these chants are just meant for silliness with friends, not for public airing. We're not always so clued in on Af Am culture.as we like to think we are.

[smp65]

08:59 AM on 09/19/2010

Half the parents interviewed on this topic on GMA were black...one mother in particular was really angry with the mom who objected to the cheer. I don't think the school is alabaster but you may be right about the stupid iidea of the parents wanting to desperately be 'hip'.

[Linda Williams]

04:30 PM on 09/19/2010

Have you never heard of 40 year old women still complaining that they did not make it to the homecoming court? It is sad. And more sad that their children imitate these 'goals'.

[dotherightthingmookie1]

09:57 PM on 09/19/2010

I have a separate answer for that AfAm "mom" who was angry with the mom who objected to the cheer. I would have to pull her to the side and speak to her privately about stereotypes, image issues, maltreatment of women by both "mainstream" America and the African-American community, historical roots of the objectification of the African-American woman in America and her body and so forth...just so you know I don't give her a pass just because she's African American.