Fight Obesity not Skateboarders

One of the major issues facing America and the rest of the world is the startling spread of obesity among young people. This is made apparent by the huge media campaigns that have been started as an attempt to get kids off the couch and outside exercising. Why is it then that these youths meet so much resistance when they try to do just that and participate in their sport of choice, skateboarding? Kids are encouraged to go play soccer, basketball, or football, but some would rather go out and skateboard. If they can't do that because it is prohibited where they live and there is no skate park because people think they attract the wrong type of crowd, then they will just stay inside and eat potato chips.

Stereotypes against skateboarding are reducing the attractiveness of going outside and skating because of all the effort being put into pointless attempts to eradicate it by people who don't understand what it means to be a skateboarder. Contrary to popular belief, it does not mean going out and committing crimes and defacing private property. It means having fun doing something you love. If kids can't skateboard because of all the opposition haters put up against it, then they will probably just stay inside and exercise their thumbs playing Tony Hawk.

Its time for a change, America. Don't let those who give skateboarding a bad name skew your vision. Support a sport for those who really care about it.

On Go Skateboarding Day in 2005 skateboarders flocked to Love Park and so outnumbered the police regularly stationed there to impose fines that no action was taken against them. The park is no longer the skating heaven it once was since renovations were undergone to discourage skateboarding, but that did not stop all the enthusiasts from enjoying themselves there once more. As much as it may have been a protest, it was also probably in large part for lack of a better place to celebrate the un-official holiday. When the ban was put in place, a promise was made to build a new park specifically for skating. The promise was never made good despite offers from companies willing to fund the project.

The failure to build a new skate park as consolation to skaters for their loss is a clear result of the general lack of respect for the sport due to the stereotypes made against its participants. The failure to replace one of the great venues for their passion is partisanship at its worst. An end must be brought to the bigotry caused by blind belief in the common view of skateboarding.

Attack on Skateboarding

Love Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is the location of one of the most well known battles over skateboarding in the sport's history. In 2002, the park, who's physical characteristics made it ideal for skating, was made off limits by a city skateboarding ban. Ever since, skateboarding enthusiasts have been working to come up with an agreement with the city to re-open the park to skateboarding, but without success.

This is a huge issue that has come about because of the overblown stereotypes against the sport getting out of hand. Other sports and activities are not prohibited in the park because they are viewed as being more respectable. America is supposed to be the "land of the free" but in one of its most historic cities, a large group of citizens is being discriminated against because of the misconceptions against people who just want to have fun.

In the cartoon shown above, possible methods of getting rid of some stereotypical skateboarders with piercings and baggy clothes are visited.

To learn more about this ongoing issue visit http://www.ushistory.org/lovepark/index.htm

Common Misconceptions

The bad image projected by stereotypes against skateboarders sometimes results in consequences that everyone who skateboards must suffer from. Some of these consequences are discussed in an article by the Daily Herald newspaper's Robert Sanchez from Arlington Heights, IL at http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-1948975/Why-skateboard-parks-generate-controversy.html#abstract.

It is difficult for skaters in some communities to have parks built because the residents think that they will attract people they don't want around. The same people that don't want skate parks also want to ban skating in downtown and business areas because of damage caused by such things as grinding on rails. It is obvious with a little bit of common sense that this is not the answer. If there is no designated place where it is okay to do something, then it is going to happen elsewhere. The skateboarders are not going to quit so instead of working against them, it is time to work with them and give them public facilities where they can enjoy themselves without damaging private property.

People hear skateboarders using profanity and decide that everyone who enjoys skating must be vulgar and up to no good. This is not a good argument either because they are not the only ones who can be observed uttering vulgarities. Walking on and around public high school grounds after school gets out is a sure way to get an ear full. Do all the students contribute? No, so you wouldn't make the same stereotype against every teenager in the school would you? Well why is it different for any other group of teenagers who have something in common? Until a school is closed for excessive use of bad language by students, it should not be used as a reason to attack skateboarding.

Skate parks are sometimes closed due to a plethora of graffiti and litter. One place with a lot of these is roadways and highways. Along the roads there is all sorts of trash that is thrown out of car windows by irresponsible drivers. There is much more trash along the roads than at skate parks, so why are the roads not closed? There is no stereotype that all people who drive cars litter, so the same assumption should not be made against skaters. On the sides of many highway overpasses, graffiti can be found. It seems pretty safe to assume that people do not skateboard down overpasses and across the highway so this cannot be pinned on skateboarding. If the highways are not closed because of graffiti, neither should skate parks.

All of these stereotypes that give skateboarding a bad name are clearly unfair, and they should be put to rest. Skateboarders are no worse than anyone else, and they should not treated as if they are.

STEREOTYPES

A stereotype is a common conception or image of a certain kind of person. They are made because people might see one person doing something they don't like, and then they see someone who looks or dresses in a similar fashion. The person will assume that they are the same as the person that they don't like just by looking at them. In reality, this is utterly ridiculous. There are all kinds of people who might dress in a similar fashion, but really have completely different mannerisms and personalities.

Skateboarders are one group of people who are often stereotyped against. Some people see kids or teenagers skateboarding who are dressed in a similar fashion and they figure that they must all be the same kind of person. One big source of negative stereotypes against them is the image projected by skate parks like the one next to Everett Arena in Concord, New Hampshire. They are places with a lot of graffiti scrawled over them and do not look like constructive places to hang out. This leads to the stereotype that all skateboarders are thoughtless vandalists. In reality, it is wrong and inconsiderate to assume that everyone who skateboards or goes to the skate park fits this description. All it takes is a few people to cover the area with vandalism, not everyone who has ever been there. To back this concept up, there is often vandalism in Concord High School. There are roughly 2000 students who go there. Is it reasonable to assume that because they all go to the school, they all vandalize it and all 2000 students write graffiti on the bathroom walls? No. That is clearly a ridiculous and shameful idea. The same reasoning can be applied to both the school and the skate park. To both the students and the skateboarders. All it takes is a few to deface those places, so not everyone should suffer from being plastered with the demeaning image of being a criminal just because they go there. We must end the mindless discrimination and stop stereotyping against everyone who skateboards!