I have a 10-year-old nephew who loves skateboarding, snowboarding, and wants to get the chance to sky-dive. However, his parents are very anti the sports he likes to indulge in. They say they are very dangerous and wasteless sports that adults shouldn’t even do, and even more a child. Well, whenever he comes over my house, I let him skateboard, learn tricks from Tony Hawk Pro-Skater 3, and so forth. What’s your opinion: Am I wrong for letting him do these certain sports, or for letting him “disrespect” his parents at my house . And, also, how do you feel about children and X-treme sports?
i just find these “sports” stupid. is sky-diving really a sport ? no more a sport than russian roulette. i mean, what skill does it require ?
i am a very liberal thinker but i dont think its a good idea to support such behavior. they shouldn’t ban him from doing these things, but they ( and you ) should discourage him.
download some videos from kazaa such as “skater breaks his leg” etc … 
so that he can see the bone popping out of the leg, see if it makes him think a little
If he takes sensible safety precautions and wears the proper protective gear, I don’t see anything wrong with it. I understand his parents’ concern, but I think they’re being overly cautious to the point of smothering.
I would be very reluctant to provide a place where the child can do more than his parents allow him at home (specifically when this can result in serious injury) - are you not creating the potential of a big problem in the future - suppose he falls and (despite all the protective gear) fractures his skull, will the parents shrug it off, or will they blame you?
IAASkydiver.
It takes a lot of skill, actually, which is why you have to go through such extensive training to become a certified AFF skydiver. There is a lot of preparation involved, a lot of talent involved in turning, falling properly, checking altitude, making sure your canopy opens properly, steering, braking, and landing. Everything you do in the air while falling affects your orientation, balance, and the direction of your fall. The tricks you see pro skydivers doing are not easy, but it is easy to go beyond your limis and end up injured or dead. For things like linking, flipping, and other acrobatics, there is significant on-the-ground practice.
It’s not just ‘jump out and fall like a stone’. And when you get to the point of open canopy, there is talent in avoiding other skydivers, making sure your lines don’t get tangled, it takes a great deal of strength to make the correct turns to stay over your landing area and to slow your descent enough to land without broken legs. It takes judgement of distance to ground because if you don’t apply the brakes at the right altitude, you’ll land at a higher velocity than you should, it takes strength to pull the cords in to slow yourself down, it takes agility to run out a landing without breaking your legs, and it takes a lot of mental effort to keep everything you’ve learned straight in your head when your body is falling 15,000 feet through nothing but air.
I do know that in PA, with or without parental permission, a minor under 18 is not going to get to jump, and this includes the son of the instructor at the skydiving school I go to. He’s 16, and his experience with skydiving is watching it from the ground because the regulations are that nobody under 18 jumps.
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I think the boys’ parents are probably being somewhat overprotective. I believe skateboarding, inline skating, biking, etc., is fine in controlled situations and with the proper safety gear. However, I don’t believe that Nimsay should be letting the boy do these things. I, as a parent, would be very upset if one of my kids’ aunts or uncles took such liberties with my kids. I have reasons for deciding what my kids can and cannot do, and expect my kids’ aunts and uncles to respect that. If they disagree, they can take it up with me, but I would be most unappreciative if they were to override my authority.
I would say that I don’t think there’s any reason why a 10-year-old can’t skateboard or snowboard. They are not particularly dangerous sports - especially when wearing the proper protective gear. If the parents are worried about injuries, they just need to supervise enough to make sure he wears a helmet and wrist guards (mimimum) and perhaps kneepads and elbow pads while skateboarding. And he should definitely wear a helmet while snowboarding.
Personally I don’t classify skateboarding and snowboarding as “extreme” sports. They’re no more dangerous than money other common activities like skiing, cycling, hockey, soccer, etc…)
If the parents are worried about snowboarding, just make sure he takes a few lessons with a good instructor to start him off. And there’s a big difference between snowboarding down a hill and attempting tricks on the half pipe. Just make sure he doesn’t try to do more than he’s capable of.
My little brother (12) both skateboards and snowboards, and has for the last four or five years. My father (50 years old) even switched from skiing to snowboarding so they could do it together. (cool dad!)
OTOH, skydiving is a completely different matter, and I think it would be practically impossible to find a school that would allow a 10-year-old. My friends who went skidiving as teenagers were all at least 16, and had to get parental permission.
So I think the parents are overreacting about the dangers of skateboarding and snowboarding - but it’s probably not a good idea to encourage the kid behind their back. It’s not a good example to set for your nephew, and it’s not very respectful of the parents’ wishes.
If you want to help your nephew participate in those activities, I’d have a talk with his parents about it. They’ve probably only heard about skateboarding/snowboarding through things like the X-Games and whatnot on tv - and often they hype up the level of danger/injuries to make it more exciting to watch. If you discuss their concerns I don’t see why they wouldn’t allow their son to try out the activites, at least on a limited basis. But YMMV, some parents would still not allow him to do it. And that’s their right, at least until he’s a little older.
Even when you consider his parents don’t like sports, they are his parents and you are not. Are you sure you want to instill such behaviour in your nephew that undermines parental responsibility and authority over the child? Do his parents know you blatently go against his parents wishes?
Regardless of the actual sport(s) involved, you are setting a poor example for your nephew. You may not like what his parents approve/disapprove concerning sports, or anything else for that matter, but two wrongs do not make a right.
And what happens if the kid is injured, to the point he must be hospitalized? Are you willing to risk that?
I’d talk to his parents about all of this. If they forbid you to allow their child to play this way while under your care, you could be creating bad blood at best or more serious (legal) problems at worst down the road.
FWIW, I think his parents are out of line with the restrictions. But then again, so are you.
Nimsay -
What Duckster said - if your nephew’s parents don’t want him doing something you shouldn’t let him do it at your place regardless of your feelings on the matter. Perfectly OK to try and get them to change their minds but you’d better first…
Vasyachkin -
Another skydiver checking in here. Nothing about skydiving is “simple” and the serious competitors (various types of skydiving are contested worldwide and have been for many decades) are great athletes; they are extremely good at something that is difficult to do well and that most people will never even try. Having jumped with one or two world champions I felt like a sack of flour alongside a peregrine falcon.
Valgard
Skateboarding is dangerous. But, so what? Football and other sports are also dangerous for children. Broken wrists heal.
Snowboarding is actually safer than skiing, AFAIK. It seems to me that his parents just want junior to play “normal” sports and not ones that have a social stigma.
However, as others have pointed out, it’s the parents call to make. Perhaps they could visit a local skate park and see for themselves that many children enjoy this without killing themselves on the pavement? Or take him to a ski mountain to see that about 50% of the people there, probably more than half of the children there are riding snowboards not skiis.
I am a father of two boys (ages 2 and almost 4). Little Gaffer #1 is already skateboarding and loves it and Little Gaffer #2 loves to ride while I hold him. I built a half-pipe in our backyard (actually more for myself than for the boys but they like it too :)) and we have access to an empty pool as well. Neither of my sons have been surfing yet but I’m thinking that this summer will be a good time for the older one.
I don’t consider these extreme sports. We all wear the proper safety gear and I feel that I am proficient enough in these sports to instruct the Little Gaffers properly. For example, one of the first things I taught my son about skating (especially in the ramp or in the pool) was the right way to fall. Let’s face it, you fall a lot while skating and can potentially be really hurt. However, there is a right way to do it which minimizes that potential.
Therein lies my biggest concern. While I would probably let me kids try any sport they wanted to, I would want someone teaching them the ins and outs. I would, therefore, be very uncomfortable if my kids were going to a friend or relative’s house and that person was letting my kids engage in, for example, snowboarding (I don’t snowboard) without any supervision or training. But if my brother (who snowboards) asked me if he could take my kids snowboarding, I wouldn’t have any problem with it.
Skydiving takes no skill? Would you be willing to do a solo jump with no training?
LOl! I figure sky diving must include some skill and safety awareness
Having kids, the thought of them sky diving at ten gives me great anxiety. At that age they can be quite reckless and feel they’re invincible and will throw caution to the wind (not wear helmets or knee pads, etc.)
As a parent we feel very responsible for what happens to our kids, whether we were there are not because we are ‘their teachers’. If they get hurt, I feel I haven’t taught them something that could have prevented that…I feel responsible.
Respecting parents at that age is very important. He will be a teen soon, and if people tell him to disregard them now…the consequences will be exponential!!
Skateboarding within safety (not down guardrails) should be fine, the kid would learn ‘agility’, balance, etc. As long as he wore safety equipment (helmet, pads) he chance of serious injury is reduced. His parents should at least understand that much!!
Sky diving is not the same as skate boarding though, one should draw the line somewhere unless the parents are involved!!
nothing wrong wiht the sports themselves, most kids start skateboarding about that age, they learn how to fall before they weigh too much or their bones are too brittle.
I don’t even think he needs pads, but that all depends on what he’s doing. Is he riding half pipe or just trying to do kick flips?
Skydiving, later. Too technical, consequences potentially too big.
You’re wrong for letting him do stuff his parents don’t. Unless you have their permission. In a kid’s eyes all the adults are supposed to be on the same team.
X-treme sports (hate that name by the way) are activities like any other. I’d bet plenty of kids break their legs playing jr soccer, football, basketball. Probably more simply due to sheer numbers.
Get his parents’ permission before letting him do things that are forbidden at home.
no i would not, even with training. i would also not be willing to play russian roulette. i have already nearly-killed myself THREE times without even trying. i had two total loss car accidents and i was resuscitated once after drowning ( i was diving 50 yards on single breath [for fun] and passed out under water ). all this by age of 20. i have no desire to endanger myself ON PURPOSE.
i know that whatever sports he likes is because he was exposed to them. people are not born loving some sport and hating another. if you expose him to other sports he will like those other sports instead.
basketball and bodybuilding are “practical” sports for a guy. racquetball is worth considering too. when i say practical i mean something that is not just entertaining and relatively safe, but actually USEFUL. stuff like basketball can make him a lot of friends and bodybuilding help him get bitchez. those “x-treme” ones are only good for getting your legs broken imho.
you may think 10 years old is too young for bodybuilding, but i am not talking about hardcore here. i am talking about some moderate form of weight training. that way by the time he gets to high school he would already have something to show. he will thank you later.
Why does a sport have to be “practical”?
What, exactly, do you mean by “practical”?
I mean, learning golf could be called practical for the potential social contacts with powerful people.
Vasyachkin, no one skydives to die or get hurt, anymore than you climb into a car, a.k.a “deathbox on wheels” intending to get into an accident.
Practical skills taught by skydiving include planning not just how to deal with things going right but also what to do when things go wrong (emergency drills), how to function under stress (yes, those first couple jumps - at the least! - will be stressful), attention to detail (after all, your gear needs to be correctly rigged in all aspects), and responsibility (because when you’re in the air only YOU can bring your own butt safely back to the ground).
Of course, you can acquire those skills elsewhere, too, but it illustrates the point that an “extreme sport” like skydiving can have beneficial side effects. Nor is it some random crap-shoot whether you live or die once you leave the airplane. Free-climbing cliffs in Yosemite strikes me as being more dangerous - you’re hanging on by your fingernails alone with no safety net. At least skydivers carry a back-up parachute just in case the first doesn’t work right.
Obviously, these actitivies are not for everyone. Don’t play if you don’t want to. But comparing skydiving (where the odds of dying on a particular jump are at least tens of thousands to one, probably even less) to Russian roulette (odds are 1 in 6 you die) is way, way out of line.
thats just great broomstick, i guess according to you i climb into the deathbox on wheels to practice my survival skills, and not to get from point a to b.
You’re sig box says you’re from Brooklyn… I seem to recall NYC as having a mass transit system.
And anyone who drives without learning “survival skills” is only kidding himself. Driving requires thought, foresight, and evasive manuvering. Unless, of course, you’re the dipwad juggling Starbuck’s coffee, the Wall Street Journal, and cell phone when you should be concentrating on the road.
ye we have public transportation, but have you tried using it ?