Drill Team an Endangered Species?
Reader Believes Parents are to Blame

It is quickly becoming an alarming factor as to the damage that is taking place in dance/drill teams and other extra-curricular programs by "well meaning" parents who are anxious to "get involved".  Unfortunately, some parents tend to view the drill team activities in a manner of self-esteem as opposed to what might be best for their daughter, team or school.  Another tendency is that some parents feel they can "second guess" the director similar to a "back seat driver" when the director is the professional, with the background and experience to make a decision with the team's best interest.  The shoe would be on the other foot if a dance/drill team director were passing judgment on the manner in which an auto mechanic were to install a muffler or change a transmission on her car.

The result of these minority of parent complaints has turned administrators to view extra-curricular activities with a furrowed brow.  Instead of improving the program and increasing special privileges, we are quickly losing ground that has taken over a decade to gain.  I emphasize that I am speaking of a minority group of parents because the majority are either quietly supportive or passively indifferent.  The high standards of excellence and discipline that were accepted and supported in the 60's or 70's are being replaced with a down - play of self discipline and pride in one's self.

I challenge the silent majority to come forward with a fierce roar in defense of not yourselves, but of the standards that we as students of an earlier generation took pride in achieving with enthusiasm.  We accepted the tough moral, ethical, physical and mental standards that were driven home each day in our participation of extra-curricular activities.  

If parents do not take that positive stand, and the negativism continues to penetrate, I see in the next decade that dance/drill teams will be an "endangered species".  School administrators will find an instant solution to the negative feedback disband the source of the problems-dance/drill team.  Write those positive letters praising your school program and its leadership.  How very rare it is that an administrator might hear a positive note from a parent instead of a complaint - and how much good would it create?

Think about it... and, think long and hard... because the reality is here and now.  We are losing ground quickly and losing the talented and dedicated directors that are so valuable to our profession as well as spoiling the realism that our children must see.

Signed,
A concerned parent and a former director from Texas

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