Skateboarding and fear of the unknown

My Ocean View
By Jennifer Roush

Being a newcomer to this area can be a good thing because, in a way, I bring a new perspective. I have seen some of the same situations arise and how they are responded to a few states away and I can apply it here.
One topic I’ve covered quite a bit for Lumina News is the idea of building a Wrightsville Beach skate park. Skate parks and skateboarding are something I’ve long been familiar with. When I was a child, my friends loved Tony Hawk, Powell Peralta, and there was even a half pipe in my neighborhood. One of my closest friends rode his skateboard often until it was in shreds.
As I grew up, I still loved to watch people skate, even though I could never manage to do it very well myself. So from 6 years old through college, I had many friends who were skateboarders. And one problem remains the same.
The problem being there are always those who want to skate — because it’s fun, challenging, interesting — and there are so few places to do it. There was not a skate park in Morgantown, W.Va., when I was in college nor in the small town I grew up in. In Morgantown, I saw people skate at night in places where they weren’t supposed to because there was nowhere to go. Like in Wrightsville Beach, when youth skate in parking lots and could tear up property.
Is skateboarding a sport for deviants? No. There are those who ruin it for everyone everywhere. Young people with wrong intentions can make a basketball court a bad place to go or a playground. Should we not build basketball courts or playgrounds?
Some ask: Can children get hurt? They can. But I know a young man who had his knee completely taken out playing football. I can’t tell you all the ripped ACLs I’ve seen people endure playing basketball. People get hurt at playgrounds. Let’s just look at the issue that is at the heart of all this. Difference.
When people look or act differently, it can scare people. We need to accept that young people are constantly trying to find themselves and some may find their creativity and energy best expressed through skateboarding. Is it right to discriminate? What if someone told me I couldn’t pick up a pen and write? Good thing I only need a pen and paper. These kids need a skate park.