Save The Cheerleader, Save The World

Save The Cheerleader, Save The World

featured in The Open Letters | by Rob

The open Letters

Oct 30, 2026

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From

Rob

💌

That young boy without a name

Anywhere I’d know his face…

…I’ve seen him run outside

Looking for a place to hide

I’m tired of the excuses everybody uses

He’s their kid, I stay out of it

But who gave you the right to do this?

He’s your kid, do as you see as you see fit

But get this through that I don’t approve

Of what you did to your own flesh and blood [1]

If we can save the “cheerleader” (using this word as a substitute for children overall), can we save the world?

Art by Tim Sale (RIP) from the show Heroes, and while this was a character escaping from a supervillain, it seems now to me more of an allegory

Like many, I was surprised and saddened when I read about the death of Hayden Panettiere a few weeks ago. It is always sad to hear someone has passed, and especially sad when someone who hasn’t even really hit middle age meets their end.

When a celebrity dies, we see it in the news, and it becomes the talk of the watercooler…really, social media, now…for a while. In this case, there is perhaps a sad truth that largely no one is talking anymore because her death was eclipsed quickly by the passing of an even larger celebrity; such is the way of things.

Let me try and put some of my perspective on this. I really try not to be a “respecter of persons”. [3] This may not be a familiar term in your culture, so let me give a low-level explanation: I strive to treat everyone the same. At times I resist the broad news coverage of celebrity deaths because the same day a WWII vet died, a firefighter died, some kind person died, or a child died…but it’s the celebrity that gets all the attention. As before, such is the way of things.

That said, I am as guilty of celebrity worship at times as the next person. Perhaps even more guilty as I am Gen-X, and we truly are the Pop Culture Generation. I am certainly guilty, as a man, of elevating beautiful ladies who work in entertainment to an unhealthy level at certain points in my life. Perhaps, shamefully, this is where Hayden comes into this.

Certainly, I had a celebrity-crush on her. I know I am not alone in this. For a good amount of time, she was everywhere, her bright spirit, talents, and beauty captivated many sectors of media. Then she largely vanished. As I am flawed and fickle, she eventually faded from my present mind.

Somewhat recently, it seemed she was making a comeback. She was in some heart-felt interviews [4] that belied the façade of her past smiling self, telling us some of what she endured. I will make no speculation on her death; it seems foolish to at this point.

What I did do, on hearing the news, is go to YouTube to listen to some of her music. I was fairly certain she had never directly pursued a music career, but I knew she had put out several songs. I also got her audiobook, since she narrated it, and heard her story in her own voice.

Now, the audiobook was moving, don’t get me wrong. But it did make me think of when I listened to Matthew Perry’s audiobook, and how within minutes Matthew states he assumes you are listening after he has died, and this theme is carried throughout. There was nothing of the kind in Hayden’s book. She ended her story with hope, building towards something brighter future for herself.

It was really the songs I heard that made me think. I admit, my celebrity crush was superficial, I have no songs of hers on my phone or a playlist. Heroes was an amazing show [5], but I never watched Nashville. If I had watched Nashville, perhaps the songs I heard would not have been so shocking to me. The lyrics and titles left me cold inside.

Fame…I’m gonna live forever

I’m gonna learn how to fly high

I feel it coming together

People will see me and cry

You left a hole in the world

Where the love fell through

In the shape of a heart that’s broken in two

There are even more: “Don’t Put Dirt On My Grave” [6], Dreams [7], Love Like Mine [8], and He Ain’t Gonna Change [9]. Granted, these are largely country songs. Country songs tend to like this, but I promise if you read her book or watch her recent interviews, it sure seems like these songs were coming straight from her heart.

The one that really got to me was “Nothing In This World Will Ever Break My Heart Again”:

There’s only one way up, When you’re at zero

You took my innocence, But it was knowing

No i don’t need you, And that made me a woman

I paid my dues, But that’s a debt i’m done paying

I’m standing strong, But I’m still on my knees praying

Nothing in this world will ever break my heart again

Nothing in this world will ever break my heart again

No pain this life will put me through

Will ever ever hurt like you

And now…nothing in this world will ever break her heart again. Was her childhood worth it? Was her fame worth it? Was her innocence worth it? Will those who let her drink when she was underage because of her fame and money be held accountable? Will her manager who gave her “happy pills” so she could be bubbly and happy for the cameras be held accountable? Will the “friend” who tried to barter her to some musician, and the musician himself, he held accountable?

Will her parents, who put her into acting as a child be held accountable? Should they? Perhaps we have finally come around to my main point. Do we need children in movies? Do we need child beauty pageants? Do we need parents who are willing to sell their children for 30 pieces of silver? If suddenly, all TV and movies only had adults and only adults were musicians, would the taste of mustard change?

How many stories need to be told of “cheerleaders”, again using it as a euphemism for children, being abused or being used to make parents or corporations money? Are we paying for this? Are we funding an abuse factory? I know it isn’t

every

child star, but how many stories are there? Judy Garland being given uppers and downers on Wizard of Oz, Brooke Shields, Wil Wheaton being forced into acting by his parents, JonBenét Ramsey, the abuses to Nickelodeon Kids endured [10], and on and on it goes. Do we need to sexualize young girls in the way that we do? Why is it acceptable when a young star, 15-17, starts to date a much older star? Some time ago, I got into it (online) with friends when I expressed my disgust of Miley Cyrus’ parents when they allowed her to pose nude in Rolling Stones when she was 15; I found it telling who in my orbit tried to say it was okay.

I know that all over the world since the beginning of time, children have faced physical exploitation and sexual abuse. I don’t have an answer of how to fix it; I wish I did. While I am blessed to not have experienced any, I was shocked to learn that people closely related to me did; abuse of the unnatural and despicable kind that you would cry yourself to sleep tonight if I went into any more details.

Can we stop child abuse of all forms? This seems unlikely, but has the time come to stop putting children into places for our own entertainment where they seem to be abused year after year, generation after generation? Is it time to at least ask this question? I don’t even want the government to pass laws, how about the entertainment industry steps up and starts to draw some lines in the sand! Save the cheerleader, save the world.

In The Music of My Life, I hear the song of the abused. The crescendo of their cry echoes in my soul. Their lyrics are written on my heart. The melody cries out to be heard. What generation will choose to lift the needle and stop this heartrending elegy from spinning?

10,000 Maniacs - What’s the Matter Here?

Hayden Panettiere

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayden_Panettiere

Romans 2:11

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%202%3A11-16&version=KJV

This is one

Okay lets be honest, Season 1 was amazing and one of the best seasons of TV ever.

Don’t Put Dirt On My Grave

Dreams

Love Like Mine

He Ain’t Gonna Change (I think that is the title)

Quiet On Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV

About the Author:

Rob is the writer behind

The Music of My Life

, a publication exploring the connections between music, memory, and personal experience. An aspiring author, he uses song lyrics as a starting point for reflecting on his thoughts, feelings, and the moments that shape him. For Rob, writing is both a way to make sense of his inner world and an opportunity to share his lifelong love of music, one story at a time.

Substack ID:

Rob

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