Kids These Days

Thank you for saying this.

Kid shoulda been wearing a helmet and pads.

@EZK, last time I happened to mention the reckless and dangerous, aggressive (not to mention against the SB Municipal Code) way kids skate board down the sidewalks of downtown, you poo poo'd my concerns.

And now you ask if one of these punks was wearing helmet and pads? Seriously? These kids don't wear protective gear. They just barrel down the streets and sidewalks in areas where skate boards are prohibited and expect you to get out of their way. They don't care about your safety or their own.

This student has a serious injury and is in the ICU in a coma possibly facing more neurosurg (per mom's account on Edhat). Mom is busy being defensive saying he's a good kid and a football player, etc but admits he did something he shouldn't have. She then goes on to accuse anyone who says anything critical that they are making "ugly comments." Mom, your kid deliberately and defiantly broke the rules. He did not obey an authority who was there to protect his safety and well being at the school. He has a serious injury because of that. The entitled attitude and "I'll do what I want" behavior demonstrated by this student that led to this accident is rampant in this age group.

Would his football coach have allowed him out on the field without protective gear? No, of course not. Bad judgement, not listening to someone in authority who asked him to stop doing what he was doing and then doing something he knew was wrong to do....a kid now has a serious, avoidable, preventable, self-inflicted injury.

Just sayin' that this was an accident waiting to happen with the attitude of the junior high and high school kids these days, as the author points out.

Until safer policies are made and the existing laws against skate boarders enforced, there will be more accidents like this. Hopefully innocent bystanders won't be injured by the negligence and poor judgment of these irresponsible skate boarders.

I've read the mother's comments @Edhat and knowing she's online wish her family the best plus a full and speedy recovery for their son.

We all wish a speedy recovery of course. That's not the issue at hand.

I find it appalling that the mother wants to censor all criticism of her son's irresponsible actions that lead to a major injury. Just because the mom might be online doesn't mean that the message shouldn't be loud and clear to other rude, reckless, teen skate boarders,

"Follow the rules and use protective gear or this could happen to you."

He got hurt due to poor judgement and his own irresponsible actions. He disregarded rules and authority. He should be punished accordingly based on the school's rules for skate boarding on campus. I'm sure this wasn't the first and / or only time this kid operated a skate board recklessly.

That Sussman woman who drove drunk from Paradise store and killed someone and injured herself badly in the process still had to go through the court system and be charged for her bad judgment and actions after she recovered. She didn't get absolved of her wrong doing simply because she herself also got hurt in the incident.

Unlike "that Sussman woman", the only person hurt was the skater. Statistically, you're more likely to be injured driving or by a person driving a car than skateboarding or by a skater. Some people would do well to examine whether they are biased against skateboarders for some unknown reason that has nothing to do with safety concerns.

I appreciate this letter to the editor. I see this attitude at SBCC: students have little respect for authority and rules. It's not rampant, but it's a lot more than it used to be. I wish there were more parents like the letter writer.
There is something about skateboarders and defying authority. It was the same thing when I was growing up. Not everyone who skateboards is defiant and trying to prove themselves, but that sport has more than it's share of devil-may-care attitude. That's when good parenting comes into play. The conversation like the one described here demonstrates excellent parenting.

One thing is missing here, and that is the fact that the young people, good or bad, love adventure, some more than others, and seldom consider that their precious lives are not infinite. These kids all possess the false belief that "That would never happen to me." And some, like my own son, who is a good person, climbed out his bedroom window during the wee hours of the morning while we slept. He, with a group of buddies, all good kids, drove up to SBCC to road-luge on their skateboards on a long, winding downhill pathway many of you are familiar with. My son hit his leg on a parking curve at the bottom of that hill, shattering his leg, with a nasty compound fracture. His buddy called us, telling us he was in the ER. Seven hours of surgery followed that event, and he almost lost his leg. Eight surgeries later, his leg was saved by an amazing local doctor. His leg is filled with metal plates and bolts, and he is the barometer for our family. We always know "from the leg" if rain is in the forecast. It's been about 18 years since his accident, and he still suffers terrible physical pain, still attends physical therapy and cannot do all he wishes he could do. It's difficult to find a doctor who does not consider him to be a "drug seeker." Believe me, he's not. We observe his suffering. Please share this story with your children who also believe that we parents worry too much. If my son had hit his head instead of his leg, he would have died on the spot. A mistake made, a lesson learned the hard way.

Consider how most people drive their vehicles and ride their bicycles and it's no suprise kids are engaging in this behavior.

Adults can tell kids what to do all day long, but as long as these adults don't set by example, then we can't expect any better from the kids.

We see many skateboarders who are taken up Old San Marcos Road by vehicle and then skateboard down the road. They are all over the road and its just a matter of time before one of them is killled.

To the parents of the punkass skateboarder (looks junior high age and maybe Latino) who already has a long arm cast on his right arm (Navy blue fiberglass thumb spica cast).

Your brat was recklessly careening down the State Street sidewalk at the 101 underpass on crowded Memorial Day. He's already got a broken arm. What's next, a traumatic brain injury for him?

If he causes injury to anyone else with his recklessness I hope they sue the parents to kingdom come.

The kid continued to ride his board, because he "knew" what he was doing, and because he didn't consider any potential circumstances. It could be classified as "defiance", but I doubt with extreme predjudice! However, if there is a school rule against skating on campus, I'm sure that all of the rats know about it. Therefore, if it was a staff member that stopped him, then they should have simply confiscated the board, until a parent could pick it up. . . .Strike the second clause of my first sentence--ignorance of the rule would not be an excuse.

The motive of the child really doesn't matter, and the temporary holding of his skateboard would do two things: 1) Inform the parent(s) of the issue, and 2) teach him/her that the rules will be enforced. --This is how kids learn to follow rules, which prep them for following laws.

The possibilities of anyone getting injured due to a skating accident are rendered moot, because if a rule exists, and it is enforced, then no one would be riding, and therefore not damaging themselves or others.

Now, this all may seem a bit Draconian, but better to have a 'zero tolerance' on something relatively insignificant, as opposed to letting things escalate. In this way, the lesson is (hopefully) learned, while the cost is minimal.