Banning Racy Routines

Does it take a state law to get the raunchy sex out of high school cheerleading?

That's what we asked a Texas state lawmaker Wednesday on "DaySide:" He is co-author of a bill that would ban racy routines. But jeez, why do we need a LAW? If the routines have gotten too sexy, where are the school principals and school boards — and the parents, for that matter? Why aren't they solving this themselves? Here are some of your e-mails:

I believe the people who complained to their legislator on this issue feel powerless to influence what goes on in their schools. It is time for these people to wake up and get on the phone to the school principals and district superintendents and so some screaming... As a high school teacher in a large urban district, I watched the cheerleading go from the traditional cheers to the girls basically imitating sex acts. The faculty was totally outraged and the principal was quickly informed... The result was instant. The cheerleading coach was removed and further lewd performances banned...
—Peter Jezierny, Seymour, Connecticut

Perhaps this is trickledown from pro sports... I live in Portland, home of the infamous Trailblazers. The Blazer dancers have been getting worse and worse over the years. In fact, for years I called them the "Spank Me" dancers because of a routine they performed to a song of the same name. The last game I attended, my then 10-year-old daughter and her friend were there as well. The Blazer dancers performed a routine so sleazy, complete with what looked like S&M outfits, which they then ripped off, I looked at my husband and asked, 'So when do they lie down on the floor and invite the men to join in the fun?' I was embarrassed that my daughter and her friends saw that routine; I also resented being subjected to it... They also have the jr. Blazer dancers that they are grooming in the same way...
—Maggie Green, Portland, Oregon

Maggie, I've seen the same sort of thing at Knicks and Bulls games; I can turn away, but I sure as heck don't want my child seeing it. To some extent, that's out of our control as fans. Not so with high schools, and I still don't understand why parents don't take matters into their own hands. It's up to US to ensure we maintain a certain level of innocence for our kids as long as possible. They will be bombarded by raunchy stuff soon enough when they hit adulthood; can't we try a little harder to protect them from it while they're young?

Moving on to Thursday's show: We may hear more from the runaway bride about why she bolted on her groom and led Duluth, Georgia police on a wild goose chase. We also have some famous guests stopping by: George Foreman (search) and Julie Andrews (search). What do Grill Man and Mary Poppins have in common? Well, um, nothing. It just happens that they both planned to stop by on the same day. So let's have a little fun with them, because they're both willing to take questions and comments from viewers. Chime in at dayside@foxnews.com.

Oh, one more thing — many of you are asking how to reach Thomas Adams, the 11-year-old who has launched a petition to stop Warner Brothers from turning Bugs Bunny (search) and friends into space-age characters called the "Loonatics." All but one of you who e-mailed in are supporting him. So I'll start with the lone dissenter:

Give me a break!!... If an artist chooses to display another creative level of artistic interpretation of cartoons, what harm is there?... If the kid really has a problem with the artist's rendition, why doesn't he just not watch it?... Time to grow up kiddo!
—P. Brown, Washington, D.C.

But by far, most of you are cheering Thomas on:

Kudos to the boy who wants to save the Looney Toons from becoming "Loonatics." If adults won't step up to save this world from the dumbing down and violencing up that is taking place in our culture, maybe our children will…
—Anonymous

With that, here's Thomas' website: WWW.SAVEOURLOONEYTUNES.COM.

See you Thursday.

Linda

Watch "DaySide with Linda Vester" weekdays at 1 p.m. ET

Send your comments to dayside@foxnews.com.