I bought my son a skateboard today. He’ll be nine in August. He’s been begging for one for quite awhile now. He already has a helmet so I did buy him knee, elbow and wrists guards. These things scare the crap out of me. Don’t ask me where, but I read that more head injuries are the result of skateboard accidents than any other wheeled sports item. The kid is good on his feet. He’s an excellent skater. But the skateboard thing worries me. I also think trampolines are terribly dangerous but thankfully nobody in the neighborhood has one right now. Am I being overly fearful?
Needs2know…sometimes I think I’m better off to listen to my gut. On at least two occasions the consequences were dire when I didn’t.
all kids are gonna fall and hurt themselves at one point or another. you’ve got nothing to fear, as long as he wears his equipment, and has a good time, he’ll be fine. i skated for 7 years without a serious break, just one fracture, lots of bruises, few scrapes and cuts. i’m still alive and well. You’re just being motherly, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Good job mom
I skated for about 8 years, so I guess I have some experience with it. Did it thru intermediate school, high school, and for some years after. Haven’t in the past couple years cause all my skate buds moved away/went to college/ etc.
As for your worries. I never wore pads or a helmet on the street. Not saying your son shouldn’t, but messing up is half the fun And scars of courage. The best part of skate videos are when they show the bloopers.
Never had a head injury. I did have a ton of ankle and wrist sprains. I also had to drive myself to the emergency room in Alexandria from DC after a screwup that had my knee swollen freaking huge. None of my friends could drive, and that was fun, let me tell you. Good thing I didn’t drive a stick in those days since my leg wouldn’t bend at all. I had to wear a brace for a couple days till it healed. Never broke any bones, worst was torn ligament in one ankle.
If he has the knack, eventually he’ll have super balance, and will learn how to fall, much like judo. If not, the pads are wise.
For the skaters:
The knee injury was caused at Pulaski in DC when you could still skate there('93 or '94). Was trying a 360 pressure flip down the stairs and on landing, one foot missed the board, and the other landed on the tail. And you know what happens when you smack the tail… Up came the front and WHACK!, Mr. Truck meet Mr. Kneecap. “OMFG, mommy!”
I skated for years and years without serious injury. I took a slam in a drainage ditch one time that everyone swore moved the ditch! (no shit) and walked away. I never had a serious injury ( though I had a friend who kicked out 2 feet above the lip of the Fishermans Inn ramp on Miller’s Island and busted his spleen). I gave it up as I moved into my 20s, and that was that. Until… At 31 a friend who was a professional skater invited me out to a new skatepark in Westminister. I went, wound up skating, and had a blast. I was on the little ramp, about 6 feet, not to vert, just doing a 50/50 roll out on the trucks when the wheel didn’t catch. Down I went onto the ramp, putting out my arm to stop myself. Big mistake! I wound up breaking and dislocating my elbow. ER, Cast, 6 weeks of physical therapy and I’m fine, but I haven’t skated since. To answer the OP, I think skating is perfectly safe-unless you’re in your 30s!
Yeah, I was a skater when I was a little kid, back when they used hard wheels that would stop on the smallest pebble. One day I was riding down a hill and hit a pebble so small I didn’t see it, and got dumped. I lost my two front teeth that day, landing on my face. I gave up skating for many years.
Nowadays, skateboards use plastic wheels that seem to roll over anything. So I decided to try out skating again, at the ripe old age of 35 (that was a few years ago). One day I was skating down to the corner to buy a pack of cigarettes, and I ran over a nail. Once again, I was thrown off the skate and landed on my face, scraping my forehead but otherwise escaping major injury. I suddenly realized that I had no health insurance so I gave up skating again.
Skating is definitely a dangerous activity. Your kids are definitely NOT going to wear safety equipment, the other skaters will think they are weenies. My only suggestion is to make sure you have really good health insurance with a low deductible.
I was rollerblading one day a couple years ago and I fell and I broke my arms. Yes, that’s plural. Both of 'em. Just above the wrists. I didn’t have ANY pads or anything on though, so that’s probably why. Well, that and the fact that I was going down a HUGE hill.
I have a few friends that skate a lot, and they’ve never been seriously hurt (I used to skate when I was much younger and gave it up simply because I have very little balance). My one friend was meeting me for coffee. He showed up with his leg very messed up (bloody). That, however, wasn’t too serious. Why do I say that? He actually stayed the entire evening for coffee. He had to go to the hospital and had it looked at, but no harm, no foul. Skating can be a lot of fun, I wish I was better at it. Later all.
Needs2know, you can buy your kid all kinds of fancy protective gear but it won’t be as helpful as teaching him how to fall correctly. Kneepads don’t work if you try to put your arms out in front when falling (more useful on a ramp than on street). He’s got to learn how to roll out of a fall, stuntman style, instead of absorbing it with his upper body. Out of all my years of skating, I never had an injury that required an ER visit. Of course I was too chicken to try handrail slides…
In my last post it wasn’t clear- I meant the kneepads are more useful on the ramp than on street. On a ramp you can slide with em. On street, you’ll typically stop short.
And I did have several incidents like Silent Rob described- I’d be bloodied but unbowed.
I dunno,Mojo. I always wore good reactor knee pads and wrist guards, and even on the street, if I bailed to my knees and then hands I was always alright. Never wore elbow pads, and FWIW, when skating vert or even street, nobody laughed that I wore pads most of the time. You are right that knee pads alone work better on a ramp. I always wore the writs protectors too, though.
I never wore the wrist protectors so I’d sometimes jam my wrist- probably why I was never a fan of the kneepads.
Make sure that your son has copers, lappers, rails, and a tail on his skateboard otherwise he could scracth it all up. Plus everyone else will think he’s sooooo cool. (note: That was a joke. If you’re really concerned about his safety, don’t do it! he’ll get the bejeezus walloped out of him)
He’s already sneaking out without his helmet and pads. He’s got so much confidence, enough actually be cocky. Today he’s at the pool with grandma so I won’t worry about it. He hasn’t even gotten to the stage for doing tricks yet. But he does keep running up on stuff. Wants to know if I’ll get him the stuff to build a ramp. Yeah righ!
Does the pool have water in it? I dunno how many empty pools I got chased out of.FWIW, ramp skating is safer than street, IMHO. If you do decide to build a ramp, make sure you e-mail me so i can tell you how. There is a little trick to getting smooth transitions, and without it, the ramps not very good. I had a ramp in my folks backyard, never had any problems.( kitchen window got broke once by a runaway board)
To answer the OP, I think skating is perfectly safe-unless you’re in your 30s!
–do you write for Highlights