Get On Board
My son Joe tipped me off about this story and the continuing influence skateboarding has with kids.
Jeff Ament, the bassist for the group Pearl Jam, is paying for and hands-on building skate parks in Montana. Ament says this is much bigger than skateboarding. He says we are teaching kids to get up when they fall. He goes on to say if you are in an isolated rural area or come from a broken home, you are going to fall a lot. He weathered his own emotional storms with the help of a backyard skateboard ramp. In his experience it was deeply therapeutic and would be the same for disaffected kids in a similar place.
One of his coolest and most important parks is Thunder Park, located on the Blackfeet Reservation. That region has the third-highest suicide rate in the country. He says instead of you against the world it’s you against your skateboard. It gives a kid a place to take out aggression and helps them through tough times.
Christ, if I were superintendent of schools in Ripton, Massachusetts, skateboarding would be part of school recess. Get the kids some knee pads and elbow pads and helmets. But these days, if a school has recess at all, it’s 20 minutes tops. Should be 60. Schoolyard play is important in developing personal relationships. It generates creativity, reduces disciplinary problems and reduces anxiety and depression. Kids need it now more than ever.
We need more recess time and less bullwinkle ADHD medication, which for a kid is chemical warfare on the brain. And get ‘em on a skateboard, where they will learn how to fall and get up and fight on. Teaches ‘em grit. Which ain’t a bad thing today.
Keep your dukes up.