Schooling on
PHOTOS COURTESY LUKE DOELL
Skateboards
By Chris Parry, director of The Canadian Amateur Skateboard Association Skateboarding and schoolyards are two nouns that play an integral role in the lives of countless youths across Canada. For skaters the words go together like “play” and “ground”. To school administrators and policymakers the words go together like “Skate and destroy.” Without getting too far into the debate of whether skateboarding causes cosmetic damage to property (it does) or the level of inconvenience or annoyance it creates for others (it can); this article aims to educate a bit about skateboarding and its history, explore reasons why kids skate at schools, share insights into the experience of the average youthful skater, and finally suggest some options for schools, administrators, and skaters to co-exist in a positive, safe and healthy environment.
Schoolyards and the birth of skateboarding From its inception, skateboarding has shared a special relationship with schoolyards. It is fairly common knowledge that modern skating's roots trace back to the surfers of southern California. They found the banked schoolyards of LA and San Diego to be perfect places to practice their landlocked surfing moves. But as skateboarding evolved and developed it's own identity, one not reliant on the surf style of Skateable terrain is all around a school yard.
riding, a new style of skateboarding, commonly known as street skating, pushed skaters to constantly seek suitable locations or 'skate-spots'. Invariably the search for skatespots led them back to the schoolyards where they studied all week as schools provide an ample array of skateable objects to invent new tricks on and push the limits of what is possible on a board and four wheels. A cursory survey of skateboard videos, media, or video games further reveals the central role of schools as skatespots. The fact that skateboarding is largely a youth driven sport and culture only serves to reinforce this relationship.
A few well placed benches could be designated skate zones.
Why do kids skate at schools? Why kids skate at schools seems pretty obvious. Skating is how skateboarders get around (like bike riders) and school is where they spend a majority of their waking hours. But there are other reasons as to why schools are prime skate terrain. With the evolution of “street” skating came the ability of skaters to turn their surroundings into a “skatepark”. There School Plant Officials Association of B.C. 29
