Sports fans are accustomed to seeing co-ed cheerleading teams in college football, and my high school alma mater actually had 1 male cheerleader for at least 1 season in the 80's.
Tyler Wilson is just 11, in the 6th grade. He tried out for and made a youth cheerleading team in his hometown in Ohio last month, but presently has his arm in a sling thanks to a couple of bullies who taunted and teased him repeatedly. Based on the description Tyler gave of the incident, as shown earlier today on Good Morning America, it sounds like one of the punks employed a wrestling move known as the Electric Chair, slamming Tyler into the curb. Initially, Tyler had lied to his mom about the fight, but the truth eventually came out when they discovered his arm was broken. Kristy Wilson, Tyler's mom, pressed charges against the bullies, but the harassment hasn't stopped.
As Tyler explained to George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America, he's gotten additional threats just because he turned in the bullies. Well, what else was this kid supposed to do? If you say nothing, then the punks win. By taking a pro-active stand, and affirming that he'll continue his cheerleading career despite this setback, Tyler is proving that there is a way to counter the hassles created by bullies, whose artificial sense of entitlement and empowerment has for once backfired. And who knows? Maybe we'll see Tyler on a college sideline someday.
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