When skateboarder Bob Burnquist won the gold medal at the X Games he was on top of the world. But this Christmas morning, thousands of happy youngsters will be riding their new skateboards and scooters and falling off. That's why Burnquist is taking time during the holiday shopping season to help educate parents about skateboard, scooter and in-line skate safety and to remind them to add protective gear to every wheeled purchase.
"Wearing a helmet is a 24/7 thing. Your head is the main box so you'd better take care of it," says Burnquist. "No matter how good you are you can hit your head very hard when riding and that can be very bad."
"My advice is that parents should think of safety gear and the skateboard as a single purchase. Don't just buy the board."
In fact, professional riders like Burnquist and skateboard instructor Steve Badillo stress that safety gear allows younger, more inexperienced skaters to become better skilled, safer riders.
"When you're protected you can skate more and worry less about getting hurt," says Badillo, a former pro skater who co-authored Skateboarder's Start-Up: A Beginner's Guide to Skateboarding. "The biggest mistake is kids think it's cool not to wear safety gear because they see that a lot of pros don't wear it. But the fact is, these kids are not at the skill level of the pros and they get slammed."
But many pros do wear protective gear.
Skateboard legend Tony Hawk religiously wears his gear. And Burnquist says he won't skate without hip pads because he's gotten so many 'hippers.'
"I tuck and roll out of a lot of my falls or slide on my hip, but I found it really difficult to find good hip pads," says Burnquist, who was born in Brazil and relocated to Leucadia, Calif. "I'm actually trying to develop a line of hip pads with my sponsor Hurley."
"Skateboarding can be dangerous. I've broken 19 bones," adds Burnquist. "I've got a pin in my right wrist and I've been knocked out totally once. I had short-term memory loss and kept repeating questions."
Taking the fall
Badillo actually teaches kids how to fall in his classes. "We go over how to run out of a fall or how to slide onto your knees if you're working a ramp," says Badillo. "It's really important to know how to fall properly because if you're a skater, you're going to fall every day."
For knee-slides, riders have to wear knee pads. And riders should wear proper shoes at all times when skateboarding or scootering. For kids, long pants that provide some added protection are also recommended.
"If you're really serious about skateboarding, you might as well get used to wearing safety gear because you have to wear it in competition and at all the skate parks," advises Badillo.
"We require all skaters to wear safety gear — period," says Todd Huber, owner of Skatelab, an indoor skateboard facility in Simi Valley, Calif. "There's no such thing as overkill when it comes to young kids and safety gear."
Studies have shown that safety gear reduces injury and often prevents it. Protective padding, clothing, and helmets disperse the impact of falls.
"There is bio-mechanical and clinical evidence that wrist guards do work," says Dr. Flaura Koplin Winston, director of the TraumaLink Pediatric Injury Research Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "Parents have to hold the line and make wearing safety gear non-negotiable. It's easier to reinforce when you do it from day one."
And that's important because wheeled toys such as in-line skates, scooters, and skateboards cause more injuries to children than any other category of toy — over 65,000 in 2000. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), scooter injuries alone jumped from 3,281 in 1999 to over 42,500 in 2000.
When it comes to skateboards, approximately 26,000 people are treated in hospital emergency rooms every year. Sprains and fractures are the most common injuries. And parents shopping for skateboards should understand that 60% of skateboarding injuries are to children under 15 years of age. And fully one-third of all injuries are suffered by kids who have been skateboarding less than a week.
An important consideration for parents shopping for Christmas skateboards is the age of the child. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises against children under five skateboarding, for several reasons:
Their center of gravity is higher, making falls more likely. Their neuromuscular system is not well developed. Their judgment is poor. They are less able to protect themselves when falling. Skate parks
One of the best arguments for taking your kids to indoor skate parks is the fact that irregular riding surfaces cause over half of all skateboard falls.
"Skate parks are great because the ramps are engineered for doing tricks, the riding surface is smooth, and the kids are supervised," says Huber. "We even offer skateboard camps and lessons so kids can learn proper techniques."
Huber says his facility caters to approximately 1000 skaters a week yet he sees on average "maybe one serious injury a month — usually a broken wrist or ankle."
"You can't eliminate all the dangers," notes Huber. "Just being a kid is a danger."
Another excellent reason to go to a skate park is the vast majority of skateboard fatalities occurred in traffic when the rider was struck by a motor vehicle. The CPSC advises that skateboarders NEVER ride in traffic.
But skateboarding also provides many positive experiences. Along with helping kids develop balance and coordination, skateboarding is excellent aerobic exercise.
"With so many kids overweight, it's important to find activities that kids like," says Winston. "Skateboarding fits that bill — they can do it whenever they want, it's fun and it's great exercise. But we shouldn't risk any child's safety."
"Unless they're playing Tony Hawk Pro-skater 3, skateboarding gets kids off the couch and outside," jokes Huber.
"Just remember, you get to enjoy skateboarding a lot more and a lot longer if you don't get hurt," advises Burnquist. "And with safety gear, moms and dads won't have to worry nearly as much when their kids start getting air."
Original Source: USAToday, By John Morgan, Spotlight HealthWith medical adviser Stephen A. Shoop, M.D.
"Wearing a helmet is a 24/7 thing. Your head is the main box so you'd better take care of it," says Burnquist. "No matter how good you are you can hit your head very hard when riding and that can be very bad."
"My advice is that parents should think of safety gear and the skateboard as a single purchase. Don't just buy the board."
In fact, professional riders like Burnquist and skateboard instructor Steve Badillo stress that safety gear allows younger, more inexperienced skaters to become better skilled, safer riders.
"When you're protected you can skate more and worry less about getting hurt," says Badillo, a former pro skater who co-authored Skateboarder's Start-Up: A Beginner's Guide to Skateboarding. "The biggest mistake is kids think it's cool not to wear safety gear because they see that a lot of pros don't wear it. But the fact is, these kids are not at the skill level of the pros and they get slammed."
But many pros do wear protective gear.
Skateboard legend Tony Hawk religiously wears his gear. And Burnquist says he won't skate without hip pads because he's gotten so many 'hippers.'
"I tuck and roll out of a lot of my falls or slide on my hip, but I found it really difficult to find good hip pads," says Burnquist, who was born in Brazil and relocated to Leucadia, Calif. "I'm actually trying to develop a line of hip pads with my sponsor Hurley."
"Skateboarding can be dangerous. I've broken 19 bones," adds Burnquist. "I've got a pin in my right wrist and I've been knocked out totally once. I had short-term memory loss and kept repeating questions."
Taking the fall
Badillo actually teaches kids how to fall in his classes. "We go over how to run out of a fall or how to slide onto your knees if you're working a ramp," says Badillo. "It's really important to know how to fall properly because if you're a skater, you're going to fall every day."
For knee-slides, riders have to wear knee pads. And riders should wear proper shoes at all times when skateboarding or scootering. For kids, long pants that provide some added protection are also recommended.
"If you're really serious about skateboarding, you might as well get used to wearing safety gear because you have to wear it in competition and at all the skate parks," advises Badillo.
"We require all skaters to wear safety gear — period," says Todd Huber, owner of Skatelab, an indoor skateboard facility in Simi Valley, Calif. "There's no such thing as overkill when it comes to young kids and safety gear."
Studies have shown that safety gear reduces injury and often prevents it. Protective padding, clothing, and helmets disperse the impact of falls.
"There is bio-mechanical and clinical evidence that wrist guards do work," says Dr. Flaura Koplin Winston, director of the TraumaLink Pediatric Injury Research Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "Parents have to hold the line and make wearing safety gear non-negotiable. It's easier to reinforce when you do it from day one."
And that's important because wheeled toys such as in-line skates, scooters, and skateboards cause more injuries to children than any other category of toy — over 65,000 in 2000. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), scooter injuries alone jumped from 3,281 in 1999 to over 42,500 in 2000.
When it comes to skateboards, approximately 26,000 people are treated in hospital emergency rooms every year. Sprains and fractures are the most common injuries. And parents shopping for skateboards should understand that 60% of skateboarding injuries are to children under 15 years of age. And fully one-third of all injuries are suffered by kids who have been skateboarding less than a week.
An important consideration for parents shopping for Christmas skateboards is the age of the child. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises against children under five skateboarding, for several reasons:
Their center of gravity is higher, making falls more likely. Their neuromuscular system is not well developed. Their judgment is poor. They are less able to protect themselves when falling. Skate parks
One of the best arguments for taking your kids to indoor skate parks is the fact that irregular riding surfaces cause over half of all skateboard falls.
"Skate parks are great because the ramps are engineered for doing tricks, the riding surface is smooth, and the kids are supervised," says Huber. "We even offer skateboard camps and lessons so kids can learn proper techniques."
Huber says his facility caters to approximately 1000 skaters a week yet he sees on average "maybe one serious injury a month — usually a broken wrist or ankle."
"You can't eliminate all the dangers," notes Huber. "Just being a kid is a danger."
Another excellent reason to go to a skate park is the vast majority of skateboard fatalities occurred in traffic when the rider was struck by a motor vehicle. The CPSC advises that skateboarders NEVER ride in traffic.
But skateboarding also provides many positive experiences. Along with helping kids develop balance and coordination, skateboarding is excellent aerobic exercise.
"With so many kids overweight, it's important to find activities that kids like," says Winston. "Skateboarding fits that bill — they can do it whenever they want, it's fun and it's great exercise. But we shouldn't risk any child's safety."
"Unless they're playing Tony Hawk Pro-skater 3, skateboarding gets kids off the couch and outside," jokes Huber.
"Just remember, you get to enjoy skateboarding a lot more and a lot longer if you don't get hurt," advises Burnquist. "And with safety gear, moms and dads won't have to worry nearly as much when their kids start getting air."
Original Source: USAToday, By John Morgan, Spotlight HealthWith medical adviser Stephen A. Shoop, M.D.
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