It has prompted a coach and his assistant, a principal, an assistant principal and a district attorney to all be placed on leave as Colorado police open an investigation.
The videos show eight cheerleaders at Denver’s East High School being forced into splits while their arms are held by teammates, with a girl in one video repeatedly asking her coach to stop.
“No no no, I can’t! I can’t! Please stop, please stop, please stop,” the trainee says.
The footage was aired by local TV station KUSA-TV, which said the videos were shot on mobile phones of two team members and sent anonymously to the broadcaster.
Denver Public Schools superintendent Tom Boasberg called the videos “extremely distressing”.
“We absolutely prohibit any practices that place our students’ physical and mental health in jeopardy,” Mr Boasberg said in a statement.
“We do not and will not allow any situation in which a student is forced to perform an activity or exercise beyond the point at which they express their desire to stop.”
The Denver Police Department said child-abuse detectives were investigating.
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