Thirteen cheerleaders at Evans Middle School in Lubbock, Texas, have sustained first and second-degree burns on their hands after reporting that their cheer coach required them to perform “bear crawls” and “crab walks” on a scorching outdoor track as a form of punishment.
The eighth-grade girls, part of the “red” team for the squad, shared with EverythingLubbock.com that they faced consequences for executing a cheer at a football game that was not approved by their coach. The coach expressed that it was perceived as “disrespectful.”
The following events for the families were nothing short of a horror story.
“I had asked [my daughter], ‘Are you okay? How was school?’ She put our stuff down in the car, went to sit down and said, ‘Mom, you want to know how my day was in cheer?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ She told me that they got a punishment, and shows me her hands,” Angel Thompson, a mom of an Evans Middle School cheerleader said.
The girls were instructed to perform bear crawls and crab walks for a mile, but many struggled to keep going after just two laps because of the pain, with some even feeling physically ill as a result. The young women reported that the disciplinary action took place on Wednesday afternoon at approximately 2 p.m. A parent visited the track that afternoon to assess the temperature and reported it was at least 125 degrees.
“We told her our hands are burning, and she said she didn’t care, and she made us go back down on the track,” one of the cheerleaders, who asked to remain anonymous, said.
The parents claim that the coach warned the girls about jeopardizing their future cheerleading opportunities if they failed to fulfill the punishment. Following the incident, several girls visited the school nurse, yet they reported not receiving any communication from the school regarding their daughters’ injuries. The cheerleaders suffered from serious burns, both first and second-degree. A cheerleader was spotted at the burn unit of the University Medical Center.
“It was malicious. It was intentional,” the mother of one of the cheerleaders, who asked to remain anonymous, said.
The parents are seeking criminal charges against the teacher and have indicated that a police investigation is currently underway.
The educator has been put on administrative leave while an inquiry is underway.
Reference: The New York Post