Skatepark Society

I am big fan of skateparks. I think we could model a small society after them. Skateparks offer three things that most children are desperately lacking today: risk, independence, and commitment.

Risk is an essential part of learning and growth. You’re likely to get more than a few bumps and bruises on your way to mastery because skateboarding is risky. Learning to fall well is part of the process. In Forest Schools risk is the central part of the curriculum, it’s intrinsic to living.

Skateparks offer independence, mom or dad can come to the skate park with you but they can’t drop in on that ramp for you. Skating is a solitary endeavor. The Montessori philosophy believes that all children have a drive for independence and that true mastery comes only from the child’s independent effort.

Skateboarding requires your commitment to failure and persistence. A commonly uttered phrase at the skatepark is “I hesitated”. Usually said after a failed effort. We shouldn’t hesitate to let children fail. Learning how persist in the face of failure inoculates children against overwhelm and anxiety. It is the vaccine of character. Being able to suffer well and tolerate challenges are essential for a meaningful life, the Stoics taught us this.

Skateparks are dangerous sure, there is probably language you don’t like, and vaping (ew), but those are things your child will be exposed to anyways.

Anthropology tells us that children have been handling risk and independence for thousands of years. We’ve only recently begun taking away their freedom and responsibilities. Many modern children are pathologically protected in the name of safety. This limits their capacity for resilience, far more dangerous than any broken bone.

I’m confident that the risk, independence, and commitment skateparks offer can give us a world with more scraped knees and scars and fewer ADHD diagnoses. So let your kid go to the skatepark, but remind them to bring their helmet.