A mother, Morgan Dess, spoke out about a recent incident at Neshoba Central in Philadelphia, Mississippi, involving the school’s cheer coach and the mistreatment of 11–13-year-old girls on the cheer team.
In her post, Morgan speaks as a parent and advocate, addressing the importance of trust between educators and families.
She emphasizes that teachers and coaches are expected to uphold professionalism, compassion, and integrity, especially when working with children.
Her message focuses on the emotional and physical safety of students.
She called out the abuse of authority and the long-term damage it can cause when educators cross the line from discipline into humiliation.
A Cheer Coach’s Harsh Punishment Over a Single Cookie Has Left Young Girls Physically Harmed!
Morgan’s post describes a disturbing incident involving the school’s cheer coach.
According to her, the cheer coach allegedly punished a group of 11–13-year-old girls by forcing them to run 20 and down the bleachers over a half-eaten cookie left in the cheer room.
The punishment led to physical harm: two girls urinated on themselves, others vomited, and many overheated.
No one was given a pass for being late to class, and the emotional trauma was ignored.
Morgan also highlighted past behavior by the same coach, including public belittling during games, sharing private parent messages on social media, and humiliating a child on her birthday.
She ended her post by urging the administration to reflect and make real changes, stating,
Our children deserve better. They deserve leaders who lift them up, not tear them down. I pray this never happens to another group of students again.
The post has received strong reactions from others who shared similar painful experiences.
One person added a concern on Morgan’s post, writing:
I couldn’t agree more with everything you said. I had a bad experience myself when I cheered there! The coach allowed bullying to happen and didn’t step in when she should have. It was such a discouraging environment. I’m glad that parents are speaking up and shining light on what’s really happening and I hope administrators do something about it but unfortunately they were no help to me! No child should ever be made to feel small, embarrassed, or unsafe by someone who’s supposed to lead them.
Another parent shared a personal story and highlighted how a single teacher’s comment shattered years of confidence in her son.
She further wrote:
Well said! I pulled my son out of NC yrs ago. Why? Because a teacher broke him down in one sentence! My son is very smart and had A’s!! But for whatever reason a teacher told him he would end up just like his biological dad. Who went to jail for mistakes he made long after our divorce. My son was 3 mo old when his father was put out of our lives! All my years of building up my little boy were destroyed by one teacher. I homeschooled him. He went on to college and had numerous scholarships. It breaks my heart this has happened to the girls. My prayers are with them and the parents.
Likewise, another commenter shared a similar story, saying:
I know exactly how heartbreaking this can be!! Our oldest son loves basketball and was good at it! Jimmy picked him up one day and could tell something was wrong! He asked and at first he didn’t want to talk about it!! Eventually he told him and he said he lost every bit of respect that he had for him!!! I spoke to parents of the young men on the team and told them what happened and they just brushed it off!! But when a coach belittles a child for having other interests in another sport also and then to say what he did to the whole team it shatters them!! Needless to say the administration at the time did nothing about it and he never returned to the sport!!! But I can say he plays basketball every chance he gets with friends and also excels in the other sport he loves and has made it part of his career and is soo good at it!! These teachers and coaches just take the authority over the edge and let their other problems flow over into their jobs and mistreat the kids!!! So very sorry this has happened to these girls!! Just hope they can get past this and continue what they love weather it’s at school or on the teams that they are on not in the school setting!!! Too much talent ruined by authority that goes to their heads!!!! God Bless them all !!!
This incident in Neshoba Central in Philadelphia, Mississippi, has opened a painful but necessary conversation about the treatment of young students in extracurricular spaces.
Additionally, the school administration has confirmed that an investigation is ongoing.
