Skateboarding, a Misconceived Sport

For as long as most can remember, it’s been a common misconception that those who skateboard are almost always associated with drugs, alcohol, tattoos, vandalism, and crime. So how did people begin thinking this way?

Skateboarding is often associated with vandalism

Skateboarding has been around since about the late 1940’s. The first skateboards were created by children, which they did by attaching roller skate wheels to a board. Skateboarding was first invented in California as a way for surfers to ride and have fun when the waves were flat. Soon enough, skaters began experimenting with riding down steep hills, ditches, and pools. Skateboarding quickly became associated with crime when teens trespassed into people’s property, drained their pools, and had fun with their friends for a little while, until the police came. Already, skateboarders were assumed as trespassers and criminals.

The skateboarding troupe grew during the 1980’s, when drug use spiked. Listening to punk rock, vandalizing property with graffiti, and skateboarding were all promoted as a part of the culture. Thrasher, a skateboarding magazine founded in 1981, was a symbol of the skate-punk culture.

However, the skate community was never homogenous. While many of the skaters stuck true to the stereotypes, there have always been people breaking them. Over the years, the vandalizing, drug-using, and criminal skateboarding typecast has faded out. People are setting new records every day in the skateboarding world.

In our current year, many people still choose to view skateboarding as an accessory of rebellious teens.

 

♡

Sometimes, I feel uncomfortable when I'm crusing down the blocks near my house, or when my brother and I make the whole neighborhood echo when we land tricks. There are always those older neighbors, mowing their lawns, staring at us with disapproving faces. At a young age, I was taught by just street signs that skateboarding was bad. In films and movies, skateboarding was almost always done by the gangster and thug characters. Even when walking to the grocery store, I saw signs with the all-familiar stick figure, this time riding a skateboard. The image had a big red circle with a cross through it. This sent a clear message - no skateboarding.

When skateboarding was first coined, it was dominated by men. There were no rules that stated it, but for many years, no girl had stepped foot into the world of skateboarding. In this day and age, this is no longer true. Jordyn Barratt, Arianna Carmona, Natalie Westling, and Poppy Starr are all female skateboarders breaking the boundaries of skateboarding today. Sky Brown, one of my biggest idols, an 8 year old girl, became the youngest female skateboarder to compete (against adults!) in the Vans US Open Pro Series.

Sky Brown

As a girl who enjoys skateboarding in 2017, I have never felt weird, or been put down about it
because I'm a girl. Our society has evolved so much in this way, and I'm proud to say it.

Today, skateboarding is a sport still categorized into a crime by some. Nonetheless, it has evolved into a sport that many continue to enjoy. Whether it’s drifting along an empty road with ease, or showing off the coolest tricks, skateboarding is an art that we can all enjoy.

♡