Same Old Song

 

So. The Ides of March. In all likelihood the most we have to beware is whatever blew into our yards during the night or whatever blew over. We haven’t put up the patio umbrella yet so I think we’re safe.

There are plenty of perfectly respectable things to write about this morning but for some reason my brain is stuck on skateboards.

On January 23rd, the Columbia Association posted this conversation started on their Instagram account:

Columbia is for all of us. What gives you a sense of belonging here in Columbia?

They received one response.

Columbia doesnt seem like it's for skateboarders anymore. It used to be the skatepark that gave us a sense of that, but Y'all haven't listened to us for over a decade and now your park is severely outdated, in disrepair, and can commonly be seen empty on perfect summer days. Columbia used to have a thriving skateboarding scene, and not having a modern, up-to-date skatepark is one of the reasons why we don't anymore. People would rather drive to Laurel or Shrimptown* to skate then use this old crusty park. Let's fix this.

My first thought: are kids still into skateboarding? Is that still a thing? It occurred to me that when skateboarding was at its peak adults had plenty of complaints about it. 

Why are so many adults angry about skateboarders? Daryl Nelson, Consumer Affairs, July, 2013

I loved this bit:

"By understanding the culture of skateboarding, today's leaders are in a better position to understand tomorrow's leaders and develop communication styles to improve interaction between generations," writes [Linda] Moore.

Plus, it's important to remember there are worse things kids could be doing other than skateboarding, and with so many people complaining about kids playing video games and not getting outside enough, adults should really relax a bit.

And, from The Skateboarding Problem: (Public Skatepark Development Guide, Tony Hawk Foundation)

When a community treats its skateboarders as pariahs, outcasts, and nuisances, they are telling skateboarding youth that they are not welcome there. They become someone else’s problem. “You are welcome to skate, just not here.” Skaters are routinely confronted and ticketed by police. Skaters see this as an unwinnable situation; they are passionate about skating but every attempt to find a place to skate inevitably leads to a confrontation with authority. After decades of this treatment, “illicit” street-skating has become an indelible part of the skateboarder’s experience. This is NOT because skateboarding culture has an anti-authoritarian tone, but because so many communities have systematically confined skateboarding that skaters treat each place to skate as a temporary situation until they are kicked out. For many, it is a daily ritual. Every experienced skateboarder can share a story of being treated like a criminal. What other sport can claim that?

Advocates have been claiming for years that if your city doesn’t have a skatepark, your city IS a skatepark.

This disgruntled skateboarder’s lament has stayed in my mind because it underscored for me the consistent theme that whatever teens are doing at any given time, adults think they should be doing something else. If they’re at home on their phones, they should be out of the house doing something. If they’re at the mall, they should be banned or chaperoned. If they’re skakeboarding, they’re unsafe, insolent, in the way.

…pariahs, outcasts, nuisances.

It seems to me that the recent issues at the Mall in Columbia are merely a different branch on the same old tree. When they’re inside, we want them to go outside. When they’re outside, we don’t like that either. When they’re alone, we want them to go connect with friends. When they gather, we report them as a potential danger.

Are you seeing a pattern here? 

On Thursday, March 9th, County Executive Calvin Ball announced YEP! - - a county initiative to fund community youth programming.

Howard County’s Youth Engagement Programming (YEP!) Grants promote youth activities and engagement in Howard County through free, accessible, and supportive programming developed by nonprofit and community organizations. The goal of these grants is to provide community organizations with the resources to develop programs for young people in Howard County that are offered outside of traditional school hours. Grant applications should focus on social-emotional learning, mental health and wellness, and activities for young people. Additionally, proposals that leverage partnerships with other community organizations are encouraged.

There are a variety of reasons why today’s young people are struggling while facing challenges the previous generations did not. But one of the biggest problems may be one of the oldest in the book: disgruntled, judgmental adults. People who don’t understand the developmental needs of adolescents and who would rather post inflammatory rants on social media than engage with actual young people.

Does the Columbia Association need to upgrade their skatepark? Will they? I don’t know. 

Do we as a community need to upgrade our knowledge of teens in today’s world and work together to support them?

Yep.

Area skateparks:

Columbia Association Skatepark, Harpers Farm Road

North Laurel Skatepark, Whiskey Bottom Road

South Ranch Skatepark (Shrimptown) Sykesville 

*I had never heard of Shrimptown. It turns out that it’s in Sykesville. I found a review video on YouTube.