Thirteen preteen cheerleaders at a Texas middle school suffered severe burns after their coach forced them to crawl a mile on 125-degree pavement as punishment for performing a "disrespectful" routine—an act parents are calling "malicious" and demanding criminal charges.
13 eighth grade cheerleaders at Evans Middle School in Lubbock, Texas sustained burns on their hands after reporting that their coach made them "crab walk" and "bear crawl" along a hot outdoor track on an incredibly hot day. This punishment came after the girls performed a routine that their coach viewed as "disrespectul", according to KLBK/KAMC.
The girls were told to complete the punishments along the hot track for a mile around 2 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon, with their coach threatening their future cheer careers if they did not comply. Many of the girls were unable to continue for more than two laps due to the pain, with some even becoming physically sick. At least one of the girls was seen at the University Medical Center burn unit.
Many parents were enraged by the incident, with one reporting that the track was at least 125 degrees after going to check on the same afternoon. Many are hoping for criminal charges to be levied against the coach.
"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," said Angel Thompson, a mom of an Evans Middle School cheerleader.
"It was malicious. It was intentional," said another mother of one of the cheerleaders who wished to remain anonymous.
"We want to express our deep concern and regret for the pain and distress this has caused the students and their families," said Lubbock Independent School District in a statement. "No child should ever be subjected to harm in a learning environment, and we are fully committed to ensuring that incidents like this do not happen again."
The statement from Lubbock ISD also indicated that the coach in question had been placed on administrative leave, pending investigation.
