Social Impacts of Skateparks

Introduction

This essay will discuss the role that a skatepark and skateboard culture can play in improving race relations and building community.

A note on aggressive-inline skating

The hip-hop connection

Skateboarding shares a lot of roots and culture with hip-hop. Davey D., who runs a website called The World from a Hip-Hop perspective, explains of the history of hip hop:

"Hip hop is the culture from which rap emerged. Initially it consisted of four main elements; graffiti art, break dancing, dj (cuttin' and scratching) and emceeing (rapping). Hip hop is a lifestyle with its own language, style of dress, music and mind set that is continuously evolving. Nowadays because break dancing and graffiti aren't as prominent the words 'rap' and 'hip hop' have been used interchangeably"

He also writes:

Rap continues to be popular among today's urban youth for the same reasons it was a draw in the early days: it is still an accessible form of self expression capable of eliciting positive affirmation from one's peers.

I was having a conversation with a friend the other day regarding skateboarding and hip-hop, and we were joking about who came out with baggy pants first.

Both skateboarding and hip-hop are street cultures, and fashion is just one element of this shared culture. Both skateboarding and hip-hop are created in street. The cultures share similar attitudes towards authority. Davey D. says about hip-hop:

Hip hop continues to be a direct response to an older generation's rejection of the values and needs of young people. Initially all of hip hop's major facets were forms of self expression. The driving force behind all these activities was people's desire to be seen and heard.

I think the same thing could be said about skateboarding. At their root, skateboarding and hip-hop are both freestyle activities, with an ethos of "do what you want, when you want".

I'll wrap my comparison of skateboard culture to hip hop culture up with an analogy I'm borrowing from Eric Monroe, President of the United Skateboard Association who frequently produces events blending skateboarding contests with hip hop music. As he explains, hip hop is urban music and skateboarding is urban dance. I like that.

Hip-hop and skateboarding are both racially inclusive cultures. Many skateboarding companies have mixed race teams of skaters. Some teams, like Chocolate and Neighborhood, have majority-minority teams. Skateboarding is a world-wide sport with role models of all flavors. Bob Burnquist, a Brazilian, is currently placing in the top of world skateboard competitions.

Comparing freestyle and structured activities

Doctors agree on the many benefits of fitness.

Growing up, I found the freestyle nature of skateboarding in contrast to the structure provided by school teams and organized sports. Organized, competitive sports have their own merits, they just weren't for me. Why is it that structured, competitive sports receive such wide support from public schools, while freestyle activities receive almost no support? I'm still searching for the answer. One theory is that's just a big conspiracy, but I can't entirely buy that. However, there is a good bit of evidence linking competitive sports, especially at the college and professional levels to acts of aggression and violence. I'd like see research at the other end of the spectrum: what physical activities tend to encourage positive social behavior?

Straight Edge

Rejecting competitive sports opportunities in school made me somewhat of misfit. If I hadn't discovered skateboarding as outlet for self expression, it's hard to say where I would be now. For myself and many like me, skateboarding was an adrenaline rush removing the appeal of drugs when the peer pressure was the strongest.

Sometime in high school I discovered there was a label for those who rejected drinking, smoking and drugs as part of their lifestyle. This label is straight-edge. I learned about it by reading skateboarding magazines. As it turns out, there is a strong overlap between skateboarders and the drug-free straight-edgers. Ask skaters you know around town if they know what "straight edge" means. I think you will find this is an important part of skater culture locally as well as nationally.

Recently when I arrived at the new halfpipe featured on the cover of the Palladium-Item, one of the first questions a new skater asked me was "Are you straightedge?".

Jumping the Gender Gap

Nationally, females currently comprise about 11% percent of the skateboarding population, a figure that is rising. This gender disparity puzzled me for a long time. Finally, Becky Beal, who wrote an essay on gender and skateboarding, providing some good insight for me. She writes:

Skateboarding is a typical female model of sport: it is cooperative, anti-competitive, a means of self-expression, a means of self-control, it lacks rules, and it lacks a hierarchial structure. In addition, the skills involved are typically seen as feminine such as grace, coordination, and balance. It is not a sport that is based on muscle-bound power. [...] In a creative way, skateboarding represents a different practice of masculinity; it strongly devalues the role of domination through competition. This type of masculinity is worth celebrating.

Since skateboarding follows the typical female sports model, I expect to see this group's participation increase. This is important to keep in mind since a skatepark is an investment for years to come, not just for the moment.

Rookie skateboards has a majority-female team, and all events like the All Girl Skate Jam are appearing in response to the rising number of girls and women in our ranks.

An Inclusive Culture

There are some concerns that skaters will self-segregate along racial lines at the skatepark. I think it's fairly common for kids to want to play with other kids that are similar to them. In skateboarding, I find that kids are more likely to bond because they have similar talent levels then because they are the same race. It's most fun to skate with folks who have a similar talent level to you.

Some people have concerns that skateboarding is exclusive because of the cost. Statistics from 1998 survey by Transworld Skateboarding Magazine tell a different story. They report participation in skateboarding is roughly even across all income levels. The report shows that 34% of skaters where under the $35,000 income level, with a full 19% under the $20,000 mark, and even about half of those were under the $10,000 annual income mark. This makes sense to me intuitively. Skateboards usually only need one part replaced at a time, and if you really into the sport, you can prioritize it just like you can prioritize getting a pair of $100 dollar sneakers.

The same report told that 56% of skaters hold a GPA of 3.0 or above, with 32% holding a GPA of 3.5 or above. Only 1% were reported to have a GPA under 2.0. Again, this doesn't surprise me. Skateboarders drop drugs for skateboarding, but they don't drop school.

And Yes, It's Safe.

Before I move into talking about skateparks, I'd like to address the safety of skateboarding. I believe skateboarding is perceived as dangerous activity, but again the statistics tell a different story. In 1996, less than one half of one percent of people participating in skateboarding sustained injuries, a figure that ranks skateboarding safer ahead of volleyball, soccer, ice hockey, football basketball and baseball!

Skateparks

Now I want to move from talking about skateboard culture to the impact of skateparks in particular. First, I'll briefly discuss the need for a skatepark, and then I'll talk more about it's impact, particularly how it fosters improved race relations and build community.

The need for a skatepark is straightforward. It is very popular and positive and there are no appropriate legal public places to do it in. The most recent statistic I've heard on the popularity of skateboarding, from the USA Today, places skateboarding as the 3rd largest participant sport in the country.You may have noticed the increased coverage of skateboarding on TV through contests like the X-Games, the B3 Games and the Gravity Games. This both reflects our growing popularity as well as contributing to it. Locally, over 500 signatures have been collected on various petitions in support of the skatepark. Contrast the popularity of the activity with the reality of the spaces available to take part in the activity: There are no legal public places to skate in Richmond, or on Earlham College campus.

An Established Success

Skateparks are highly successful in other cities. The worst things I hear I hear about them is that they are so popular there are problems with overcrowding. Several cities have already built multiple parks and have enlarged the ones they have. The best things I hear about is that they save lives. Heidi Lemmon, the President of the Skatepark Association of the USA, wrote recently "While skateparks aren't the answer to everything they certainly keep a lot of young boys busy and out of trouble".

The skatepark proposed in Richmond, Indiana will be free and open to skateboarders, inline skaters and bikers. When it's open, it will instantly become the best place to skate in town. This will reduce skateboarding in the recently renovated Uptown area, as well other parts of town.

Located on the west edge of Glen Miller Park, it will be within walking and skating distance of several neighborhoods and school areas, as well as downtown. Additionally, it is convenient to a bus line.

Youth will be involved in the design and building of the park as much as possible. When the designer comes to town later this month, he will meet with a large group of skaters who will provide direct input on what they want in the design of the park, to insure that the result is something that the primary users are happy with, and accommodates all skill levels. The skatepark will be one place in town that college students and towns people can happily mix.

An important way that the skatepark contributes to community building and improved relationships it's model of social interaction. The skatepark is essentially a group of connected ramps and bowls, which many times don't have clear boundaries. There must be clear communication and collaboration for many people to safely share this resource. If you visit a skatepark, you will see this is part of the culture. Through verbal and non-verbal cues, there is an informal scheme of taking turns happening. People who frequently go out of turn are labeled "snakes" and lose the respect of their peers. If a skater wants to do a particularly fancy trick that takes up a lot of the course, several skaters may cooperate and organize themselves so the course is clear for the trick to take place. In this case, kids usually feel that seeing the incredible stunt is worth inconveniencing themselves for a few moments. Exposure to people of other races and communication with them can be key first steps in developing racial tolerance and understanding.

I think this model of a shared resource is really valuable for building social capital. Consider other activities we have available for youths to do socially: Going to movies, going out to eat, going bowling. Many times there is no inherent need to communicate beyond the group you go with, even if it's quite possible. When kids learn to share a skatepark with others, they are being prepared to share other resources: neighborhoods, parks, friends, the environment, maybe even some of themselves.