I recently attended a mandatory parent meeting for high school athletics and then went to the breakout session for cheerleading (the sport one of my daughters participates in). I have been around the sports world for a very long time and was immediately impressed with the head coach as she brought up the importance of behaving on social media to her athletes. This is the first time I have ever heard a coach address the topic and outline consequences for the athletes if they were inappropriate on social media. When the head coach finished her part of the program, we were all introduced to one of the co-captains of the cheer squad. After listening to her talk to a large group of cheerleaders, I decided to write a column about her success as a teenager and share some of her important words of wisdom to these teenage girls.

Balee Drakulich, a junior in high school who is still just 16 years old, is the co-captain of the cheerleading squad and an honor student as well. She made the Varsity squad as a sophomore while also participating on a competitive cheer team which is a tremendous time commitment for any teenager. She has already completed many honors and Advanced Placement courses. She plans to attend college and is hoping to cheer at the university level as well. She maintains a 3.8 GPA in school while also earning her Community Service Letter (which requires 75 hours per year of volunteer work with at least two separate non-profit agencies). Between cheer, volunteer work and school, Balee is a very busy and determined young woman.

Last week, I had the opportunity to see Balee interviewed on live television before cheering in her first home football game and was so impressed with her poise under pressure. She attributes that ability to being an only child and her parents making sure that she was always part of adult conversations. She spent time in her younger years learning to act and model which both contributed to her amazing interpersonal skills that I have now seen on several occasions. Her parents, Bryan and Kimberly, have been married 18 years and have set solid boundaries for their daughter, which are clearly working. Balee was not allowed to get a smart phone until she started high school and her parents kept her off of social media until recently which has taught her the importance of communicating face to face if a problem arises. I so often see parents pushing for phones at young ages and allowing kids to have Facebook and Instagram accounts long before they understand the dangers of the internet. It is so refreshing to know I’m not the only parent pushing for these important boundaries.

The members of Balee’s cheer squad were very receptive to hear her encourage them to be responsible teammates. She pointed out to them that she would ensure they chose the right leader with her actions every day. She promised to set a good example, work hard and step up her game so that they would do the same. Balee also spoke about social media and provided some great life lessons to these teenage girls about watching what they post and understanding that it would reflect on them both in the present and in the future. She suggested that they not only consider the pictures they are taking but even looking in the background of the photo and making sure that others in the picture weren’t misbehaving or acting in a way that wasn’t in line with their own value system. She encouraged them to stay off of Twitter which is a site where many teenagers battle out their differences these days, and instead encouraged face to face resolution of problems. I feel very lucky to have met Balee Drakulich and want to meet more teenagers that stand out and give us hope that our country has a solid future coming. Unfortunately, most of the teenagers I see are posting inappropriate pictures and will hardly give eye contact to anyone because they don’t even know how to do it. If you know a teenager who is working hard like Balee to make a difference in the world, send me an e-mail at [email protected] and I will highlight him or her in a future column. We need our children to read real life examples of their peers succeeding and making good choices in their complicated world, so that they will be motivated to do the same. We can get these kids on track one teenager at a time.