All Gas, No Brakes
Skateboarding became too cool and too accessible far too fast. With local skateparks cropping up in almost every neighborhood, the prevalence of skateboarding video games, and the mainstream introduction of skate culture with juveniles, eager novices are thrilled to pick up a board and try their hand at an ollie. However, with inexperience comes the danger of circumventing the protocol that even the 90s skate rat hoodlums observed.
Despite its ragtag history, Redbull says, “Skateboarding endures as one of the world’s most inclusive and accessible expressions of freedom.” As skate popularity continues to grow, skateparks have become synonymous with public park planning, and thus, parents must also become aware of the risks. It’s obviously very dangerous when Tony Hawk performs a 900 on a vert-ramp, but if a 40lbs kiddo were to skedaddle into his path, with no brakes on the board and momentum hurling a grown man downward, it’s clearly cause for destruction—and that kind of accident would be entirely preventable.
With that image in mind, parents must be mindful of the features in their own local skatepark. While it may not be a 30-foot-high ramp, even smaller features like a grind bar, quarter pipes, and a roll-in bowl can turn a heedless child into a skater’s landmine.
Structured Chaos
Every kid deserves a fun, outdoor activity-fueled childhood. Made complete with scraped knees, brown-bagged ham sandwiches, and insatiable curiosity, a childhood spent out in the neighborhood bolsters independence, ingenuity, and the spirit of adventure. With a skateboard, every childhood fantasy comes true, allowing kids to have the freedom to explore their local bubble, test their limits, and try a trick or two.
However, with a board at their disposal, kids (and their parents) are also bestowed with the responsibility that comes with their beloved 4-wheeled cruiser. While it’s all fun and games to cruise around the street in front of your house, when a skater enters the realm of their local skatepark, there are rules to abide by; rules that many parents neglect to learn, putting both their child and everyone at the park at risk.
Just because a skatepark is called a “park,” doesn’t mean that it’s a free, outdoor childcare center.
Like any extreme sport, where life and limb are on the line, there are rules. It may seem like the skatepark is a lawless place, but if you watch closely, there are clear priorities, trajectory lines, and an etiquette that must be observed in order for everyone at the park to be safe. If chaos takes over, the risk of an accident or a fall increases dramatically, and when you’re dealing with hard pavement, metal-edged rails, and high-speed falls, skateparks pose serious consequences. Understandably, Surfertoday Magazine says that the most important rules of the park are to observe others with priority, wait your turn, and be aware of your surroundings. When was the last time you saw a small child patiently wait their turn at the playground?
While there are parents, often ex-skaters, who understand the world of skating, the importance of safety rules, and the etiquette of the skatepark, it seems like the majority of parents are too entitled to bother. According to SlickWillies, a popular skate magazine, “As a parent, understanding the ins and outs of skate park culture is crucial for ensuring your child has a positive and safe experience.” Learning the park’s rules, analyzing the difficulty of features, and ensuring kids have appropriate safety gear seem like no-brainers for parents to protect their children. But unaware, disconnected, and frankly naive, parents are so thrilled to enjoy a hands-off parenting afternoon that they’ll buy a kid a $50 skateboard (or worse yet, a scooter), slap an oversized helmet on their head, and hope that the other adults at the skatepark will keep an eye on their overly-excited, somewhat feral, and inexperienced kid.
Via u/ttw_13
Of course, every capable adult at the skatepark does their best not to bump, pummel, or crush a blissfully unaware passerby, but when you’re in a full 360° rotation for a demanding trick, there’s a good chance you’ll never see a 36” tall, Barbie-pink scooter zipping below… Until it’s too late.
Scooter kids, specifically, have become a disease at the skatepark. While, culturally, skating is all about creativity, expression, inclusion, and accessibility, the troublesome scooter kids have earned a negative reputation among seasoned skaters. Because scooters are infinitely easier to learn to ride, naive parents will skip yet another step in training their kids by cutting corners and buying their youngsters a scooter instead of a skateboard. Sometimes they’ll even skip the wheeled sports equipment entirely and just let their kids run around the park like some sort of concrete jungle gym while they lounge on a stair set like it’s their back porch.
That way, parents relinquish even more parenting responsibilities at the skatepark, setting hyperactive rookie children into a minefield of extreme consequence.
Via u/skateordie
Skating can be an integral part of a kid’s childhood, but like any extreme sport, it must be treated with caution and respect. Learning the tricks of the trade, kids can reap the benefits of a fruitful, accepting, and surprisingly wholesome community, as long as they abide by the short list of simple rules of the park that keep everyone safe.
Ultimately, the pursuit of shreddage is the goal, so if a kid is politely waiting their turn at the lip, doing their best on turns, and skating safely, everyone likes that… Even the grisled, old, tattoo-covered skatedogs.
Via u/Dean Derobot