Parents want kids to wear helmets and all sorts of protective gear when they’re skateboarding, and while younger kids will usually do what their parents say, there’s an age when kids start taking their pads off once their parents aren’t looking or just openly refuse to wear them.
Should all skateboarders wear pads all the time? Should parents just give up? Everyone has their own opinion, as do we here at Sublimited. We also have some skateboarding injury statistics you might find interesting.
My opinion is that little kids should be padded up, and when my kids start skateboarding (assuming I have kids someday and that they want to skateboard) they’ll be wearing a bunch of pads. I believe protective gear can actually help little kids learn how to skate because it gives them more self-confidence. After all, they’re pretty light-weight to begin with, and with a bunch of gear on they’re virtually indestructible.
However, there comes a time when the expertise and size of the kids grows, and pads can become restrictive and potentially dangerous. There are situations where wearing pads is always recommended, such as when skating vert ramps. The speeds involved can pull your body down quickly and whiplash your head against the ramp. Even with a helmet on you can easily get a concussion, and without a helment on you could be more seriously injured. It also makes sense to wear knee-pads and elbow-pads on vert because they give you a predictable way to fall. If it weren’t for pads you’d have to fall on your behind every time and you’d be wearing through a pair of shorts or pants every single day. It’s just more affordable to fall onto plastic capped kneepads.
But for a kid to wear kneepads on the street just doesn’t make sense. Kneepads are for sliding on, and if you can’t slide on a surface they’re only going to stick and pitch you forward on your face into the ground. Don’t make your kids wear knee pads if they’re skating on asphalt or concrete, unless the concrete is the smooth stuff found in cement skateparks that’s pretty slippery.
Like it or not, your kids are going to get to an age where peer pressure is an issue, and if other kids aren’t wearing protective gear they’re not going to either. I’d use the magazines and videos as a cue. You can pretty much get your kids to wear pads wherever they see skaters in the media wearing them. Yes, you see pros wearing a wrist-guard once in a while while skating street. This isn’t preventative so much as it is reactionary. They’re wearing the guard because of an injury they’ve already had, and they’re trying not to re-injure it.
Skaters almost always wear pads on vert, so you won’t have a hard time convincing your kids to wear them there. But you might have a hard time convincing them to wear pads in a pool, since most of the guys skating pools don’t wear pads, unless you’re Salba and wear more pads than anyone else wears no matter what they’re skating. That guy’s a walking pillow.
But for street skating it just ain’t gonna happen. Your kid would rather quit skateboarding than go out and skate stairs and handrails with pads on. If you try to force it you’re fighting a losing battle. But take this into consideration:
Skateboarding is safer than you think it is. Don’t believe me? Ok, these stats are a little old, but probably still hold true since nothing about skateboarding or other activities has changed substantially other than the number of participants in skateboarding.
There you have it, statistically skateboarding is safer than baseball, basketball, soccer, golf, volleyball, or fishing.
Of course you’re probably going to get more bumps, bruises, and scrapes with skateboarding than other sports, but less hospitalizations, and isn’t that what you’re trying to really prevent?
These stats bear out with my own experience. I’ve been skating for 20 years and I have never hit my head, even though I’ve skated vert ramps and pools. In other words, if I had never worn a helmet, even when skating the type of terrain where head bonks are common, I’d still be ok. In fact, all of the injuries I’ve had that could be considered more serious, such as broken arms, sprained ankles, and badly bruised legs, wouldn’t have been prevented by the safety equipment most parents make their kids wear.
So to sum up, my stance is make your kids wear pads when they’re small (under 10) and let them make their own decisions when they’re older. Chances are they’ll do what everyone else does, and that has fared well for most people. If you don’t want your kids to ever get injured, don’t let them skateboard, and you can also cross basketball, fishing, and golf off the list.
Hahahahahahaha skateboarding, statisticly safer then golf and fishing. Next time my dad wants me to go fishing I’ll tell him with a disgusted look on my face “How dare you increase my chances of hospitalisation by taking me fishing”, or “are you trying to kill me?”.
that was the dumbest comment in the world
There’s a reason SALBA is still skating at 40+ years old, its because hes a walking pillow. If it keeps me skating till Im 40, I’ll wear full pads in the pool.
If teens can’t make there own decisions now, how are they ever going to as an adult.
Pads aren’t the issue here…helmets are. Helmets are safer in the street
and the ramps and they never hinder your ability to do tricks. Always wear a helmet. You can live with out an arm, but not without a head.
Dude, I hate having to wearr pads! My dad told me I had to wear them to skate and i said fine and I did, but it really doesn’t look cool. that’s the main reason. I can’t covince my dad for nothin I don’t know what o do. I hate automatically scalled down because i have to wear pads. What do i do?
man i hate going to the skateparks and they make you have to wear helmets. i’m likt dude why? he said u might get hurt and sue us!!!! I’m like a duh duh duh!!!!!!!!!!!! duhhhhhhhhhhh. i’m thinking like shut up dude!!!!!!
Yea I agree with a lot of you guys my mum wants me to wear a helmet my dad doesnt care and i mean i have heaps of skateboarding friends and its stupid there parents dont care but im going to show my mum this and see what she says to it.
Woo Hoo
when i started skating about two years ago my parents made me wear a helmet. but within two weeks i refused to wear it. i just told them the second i was around the corner i wud take it off. it worked. ive never hit my head. i skate street so theres almost no risk? u land on ur butt not ur face. my only injuries are broken fingers and bruises so no biggie
my parents kept tell me to wear knee pads when skating at a park. not a skatepark, just a regular park. i kept telling them i dont need them, but they said i will injurded
Wow… this is lame.
You guys, I don’t want to be a buzzkill but a lot of you are just sounding like the stereotypical skater idiot. Dillon sounds like he’s stoned.
my mom is making me where a helmet now when i do big stairs. i have hit my head 3 times now. 1 time i was lucky to have a helmet. i dont want to wear a helmet. but i have no choice now. my mom is serious about it. i really dont care just it sucks cause everyone thinks your a @#$#. but whatever. idc.
You can look up all the stats you want but the fact remains that ONE blow to the head could be fatal–That means death–. Got a brain? Wear a helmet!!!
I agree with most of you guys. Helmets aren’t made for street skating. Sure, you’ll hit your head for a few times. But die from it? Come on, that could only happen in vert. I’m going to show my parents this so that they could stop telling me what to do and for my friends to stop looking at me as a F@&@*$ wearing a helmet.
The fact isnt about dieing from it, its the potential risk of getting brain damaged from hitting your head. Now you also have to think that pro skaters live there whole life without wearing a helmet and almost never get hurt… But you cannot base your life around that simple idea. Everday people fall and hit there head while skateboarding whether its a small hit or a big one. I would say around 1/50 head hits are actually serious but that 1/50 could be the first hit you take. Its smart to wear a helmet, but the media is making kids feel stupid if they do wear a helmet.
This brings me to the point. I am just your average 14 year old skater. I skate nearly everyday and I hate to wear a helmet though my mom really insists that I do. None of my friends wear helmets and I feel stupid if I am wearing one while nobody else is. But I look at this situation somewhat differently. See I have never liked to ollie big stair sets or even attempt a handrail… And to be honest I probably never will. If I choose to not wear a helmet then I put limits on myself as to what I will and will not do, because I don’t want there to be the day where I don’t have my helmet on and I do something big and BAM… There goes the rest of my life.
ive benn skateing four years and never worn a helmet or pads. ive never hit my head. peer pressure isnt the only reason your kids wont wear helmets. its because there very annoying and distract you. i cant skate nearly as good with a helmet on. and because helmets are thick it increases your chance of hitting your head. HOW BOUT THEM APPLES xD
I’m a downhill mountain biker, former vert skater and an ICU Trauma nurse. This is the most ridiculous argument I have heard yet. I want to look cool? I have seen plenty of kids that have fallen off their bikes and boards at slow speeds that now have a permanently nasty drool problem. Don’t think it can happen to you? Think again! Trust me, rehab sucks and that is just to teach you how to speak again, much less get back on your board. Parents crying over your bed, bankrupt families due to medical bills, bad scene. LISTEN TO MOM. Put you helmet on and make my life boring.
man u guys this world sucks i came telling- my mum about some sick stair set i ollied down and she sys right son you cant skate stairs unless you were a helmet im like wtf!!! someone help me convince im 14 man
wanna see sum cool words….. 3itch and peni5 pretty cool huh
personally i would wear a helmet but thre goofy as hell but also i hate skaters GO BMX
AND I REALLY AGRRE PADS LIMIT YOUR SKILL
ALL OF YOUR MUMS
I’ve had 3 concussions (that i know of) from skateboarding. My last concussion left my blind in one eye for about 1 hour. I also know 2 people personally that have cracked their skulls from skateboarding and 2 other people personally that have had serious brain damage from skateboarding. I’m friends with a 42 year old pro who told me he has had 16 concussions from skateboarding, one of which left him in a state of dementia for a whole month. Helmets are just apart of skating for me now. I’ve gradually switched to vert/bowl skating now and I don’t really skate street anymore because wearing a helmet while street skating is just too taboo and awkward. The bottom line is that Skateboarders don’t wear helmets because it’s uncool. Kids who tell you that they don’t wear a helmet because it’s “uncomfortable” or “distracting” are full of shit. They know this isn’t true, they just don’t want to sound stupid. It is sad that there is such a huge stigma associated with wearing a helmet which can prevent something as serious as a head injury. I think this all comes from people wanting to make skateboarding “edgy,” or something special. I’m not going to tell anybody what to do, I think it should be a personal decision but there is a bit of a double standard. Skateboarders that choose not to wear a helmet don’t want people to tell them to wear a helmet but these same people ostracize those that choose to wear a helmet. I THINK that wearing a helmet should be a personal decision, because that is what skateboarding is all about, doing what YOU want to do.
This didnt help at all. cya oh and look! skate baorder dO>-<]:
You are an idiot!! You never take protective measure based on how often it won’t happen. It’s the one time it might happen that you are trying to prevent. Broken bones can heal, head injuries will dramatically change your life or worse. Even mild concussions can force you to give up skating and any other sports for a year or more while your very delicate brain heals. The statistics are EXTREMELY low that I will be involved in a plane crash, but I’m sure glad they are working day and night to prevent it from happening.
Another question is whether helmets really make kids safer. In some cases, making an activity “safer” actually makes it more dangerous due to the concept labeled as “moral hazard”, that is, that the perceived decrease in the risk of an activity will create an incentive to increase risky behavior. One case in point is how certain injuries (head injuries included) have increased in American football as helmet technology has increased, whereas the same injuries are not seen in similar sports like rugby where helmets are not worn at all. It would appear that players avoid certain types of contact when they’re not wearing football helmets that they embrace when they think they are protected by helmets. With skateboarding, you might see a similar effect in that skateboarders might try things that are much more dangerous because they feel they are protected by their equipment, when in fact they aren’t protected enough to compensate for the increased level of danger they put themselves in.
This isn’t to say that protective equipment will ALWAYS lead to increased level of injuries, or to talk anybody out of wearing it if they want to, but it cannot be taken as a given that wearing safety equipment automatically makes an activity safer. There’s at least a chance this isn’t true, and individuals and parents should give the matter more thought and consideration before making a decision one way or the other.
death to all who r stupid… and all big macs
u all are lucky where i live there isnt any where to skate
the only rails i can find in our city is on my front step
I’m 14 and my dad makes me wear a helmet at the skatepark when I’m skating vert, which I’m fine with. It just seems overkill to wear a helmet while on flat ground. I’m fine with wearing a helmet while doing big stair sets but not on flat ground.
Anyone who rags on you for wearing a helmet is just a poseur who is nothing without the group. Those kind of people don’t have backbones and they don’t give a crap if you crack your head open. I bet if you watch that person they’re always trying to make themselves look good and puff themselves up in front of other people.
Anyone who doesn’t mind wearing a helmet but is worried about what the other skaters will say, how about this: just tell them you’re still trying to get some tricks to work but you came *this* close to cracking your head on the concrete so you’re going to keep the helmet on just until you get good at the moves(s) you’re working on. (Then just never take the helmet off and they’re gonna forget all about it and just get used to you wearing a helmet. Just keep promising to take off the helmet soon but don’t take it off for them. It’s your skull – these kids don’t own you.).
Chances are some other kids too who don’t mind wearing their helmets too but are worried they’re the only ones.
One good thing about a helmet is that you can customize it with paintings or stickers. Like a goalie mask.
If the helmet gets too hot or uncomfortable it might also be the wrong fit. Tell your parents they have to buy you a better fitting helmet because you’re not wearing the current one. And if you’re hitting your head on things with the helmet on… I bet that’s a common problem that everyone simply gets used to their clearance with the helmet on.
Bottom line is that s**t happens to good people (to anyone, really). Hopefully you never go down but if you do go down you gotta have that protection right to the back of your skull because that seems to be the most common area to get cracked when it’s serious.
dude my mom is making me write an essay on y i shouldnt have to wear a helmet, ure site will help so much thanks
I’d recommend presenting both sides. If you write a paper only giving the side of why not to wear a helmet, then you come across as biased. There are good arguments for wearing a helmet while skateboarding. The fact of the matter is that life is dangerous, and each individual needs to decide what risks they’re willing to take and those they’re not willing to take. I would never skate a vert ramp without a helmet, because I think the likelihood of me zinging and smacking the back of my head are pretty good because you’re combining a slick surface with high speeds. Apparently I’m not alone because the vast majority of vert skaters wear helmets, and only occasionally do you see someone skating a vert ramp without a helmet on, and then it usually fairly casual skating. You do see a plenty of guys skating these huge concrete bowls without helmets on, and personally I think that’s crazy, but hey, if they want to do it then that’s their decision as long as their parents aren’t picking up the tab if they get hurt. If it were my 16-year old skating, he’d be wearing a helmet in big bowls and on vert ramps for sure, unless he was sponsored and super good or something. If it were street skating, I wouldn’t make him wear a helmet at all, because I think it might be less safe than no helmet at all.
kso i am writing this essay on wearing a helmet and i think you should because it is so true you can live without an arm or leg but not without a head,
LOL, im skating for like 2 months and i always wear helmet on indoor skatepark, i hit my head 20x times on big ramps
ps. i look cool when i wear a helmet
Hey guys, have fun skating all you want. As for safety is concerned helmets may not be cool in your own fantasy world, however, talk to any major trauma center doctor or nurse and they will tell you that few skaters come in with head injuries if they were wearing helmets.
The ones that do come in with head injuries are frequenly serious and some are fatal. I don’t mind my kids’ bad choices until they begin to affect their future and health – at that point I get invloved.
My teen may think it’s not cool to wear a helmet, but he does not have a choice in that department – I choose for him to wear one and the odds are that he will just break a few bones here and there, but he will not crush his brain due to not wearing a helmet.
screw helmets they dont do a thing there r juss for show and they juss weigh u down and make u fall i dont wear a helmet and im just fine…lol well kinda but its not from wreaking!!! hahaha well thats my lil spill im out peace!!!
Ryan sounds like he’s taken a few too many ‘wreakings’ and doesn’t realize it, go ‘n “Spill in peace child”
As other moms are saying, it takes one blow. It is just like biking. Street skating could be just as dangerous as biking. what we are worried about is crazy drivers who might run into you no matter how great skater you are. My son says it is really uncomfortable to wear a helmet while skating. I wonder if somebody out there can create more comfortable cool looking helmets.
Hi all,
I’m from the UK and we have just built a new Skate park in Wigan, but no one wears protection of any kind!
I want to try to encourage parents to buy helmets for their son’s or daughters how can I go about this?
We are some years behind the US when it comes to skating but we do need to make it safe for everyone.
Gary
Hey i have 2 agree with will. I have seen my best friend nearly kill himself trying to teach me a trick. Im also a soccer goalie, and im good too. If i hit my head a crack my head open there goes my goal keeping life and my skating life. Its just smart to wear a helmet. It may not look cool, but guess what, it also does NOT look cool to have blood pouring from your head or to have your brains spilling out on the ramp!!!!
Chase: I think its cool you have not fallen, but guess what even though helmet my make you fall a little more, what happens if you fall and you don’t have a helmet on. That could be the early end to you skating life or your biking life or hell even your life all together!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and im not just saying this for chase, im saying thins for all you people who think you can skate with out a helmet on just because you have not fallen yet, thats one of the most stupidest thigs i have ever heard in my whole life!
I get the funny feeling these statistics fail to take into account what skateboarders are actually trying when they injure themselves. I wish the data set could include some information on the trick kids were trying when they got hospitalized. Were they skating vert, street, etc?
Skateboarding, like any sport, could be subdivided into different categories. Easy skateboarding, kind of challenging skateboarding, and difficult skateboarding. I would hazard a guess that the gnarlier the trick you’re trying, the higher the chances of hospitalization.
So then it’s not skateboarding itself, it’s the decisions people make when they go out skateboarding. Every time you drop in, you’re the one deciding how dangerous you want your day to be. Trying something new? Wear a helmet. Stuff you already know? Probably not that important.
Maybe the reason football is so dangerous is simply because it attracts more of the dangerous types. In some bizarre twist, skateboarders tend to be wimpier than golfers (and fishermen?). Maybe everyone’s just trying to look cool.
Andy is right. I just broke my collarbone and hit my head super hard, 3 days ago, steet skating! Yes steet skating. I’m now wearing a helmet it was my choice! not my moms, my dads, or friends. It was mine. If anyone tells me I look stupid, I’ll just hit them in the head with my board and ask them how that felt. I’m a loner so I really don’t care what people say. peace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQqUDW55Ltg&feature=related for all the people that say you never hit your head
Leonard, you are completely wrong. You can die from skating on the street. There is a boy in my community named Joseph who fell off of his skateboard and now has a TBI. Only a block away from his own home. 17 years old and very athletic. He was a swimmer and a football player. He had been taught since day 1 how to fall without getting an injury. He simply fell off his board and hit the ground. Almost a year and a half later and this poor boy still can’t even speak to his mother. If it wasn’t for a doctor coming in at the very last minute and removing part of his skull, he would have died. Check out his story on teamjosephstanton.org So next time you go out to skate, think about Joseph. You only have one brain. Protect it.