A Parent's Worry: Is Skateboarding Dangerous for Kids?

Child safety is a major concern of parents. And it is surprising how little most of us know about what is safe and what is not. Suppose your young son comes to you and says he wants to learn how to skateboard. Many parents are appalled with this idea. They think they know that skateboarding is "dangerous". All those leaps in the air and jumping off things. Wow! Can't let that happen. So they suggest that Max go outside and play softball with his friends.

What is surprising is that the data also show that soccer (3.1X), exercising without equipment (2.3X), trampolines (1.7X), snow skiing (1.5X), volleyball (1.2X), horseback riding (1.2X), and weight lifting are all more dangerous than skateboarding.

Ha! You say. It's all in the numbers. Not very many kids skateboard and that's why the injury count is lower than the other sports. Well, that theory does not hold water either. Some 11 - 12 million kids skateboard versus 3 million kids who play team sports. Moreover, the majority of skateboarders skate every day. That's more than can be said for most team sports. So, the numbers look pretty good (comparatively speaking) for skateboarding.

There is something else that needs to be taken into consideration. Approximately half of all skateboarding injuries occur in the first week that a kid is learning to skate. So, you can make skateboarding much safer for your kid if you give him the right equipment and lessons.

Get a first rate skateboard and its paraphernalia and good safety equipment, a helmet (which should be mandatory), and for younger kids knee and elbow pads. And, if you really want to do it right, hire a coach - maybe an older kid, for the first few times so that your kid gets off to the right start.

Kids helmet