Does skateboarding make you a criminal?
OK, first off, doesn't this sound like a cartoon? I mean, people really carry around bags of money? And there's no way this skater just happened by - he must have been watching her, and waiting. Weird. Creepy. And, who thinks that the skateboard is the best getaway vehicle? It works well, sure, but ... the whole thing seems ridiculous.
But this really happened, and it's a bummer. It's a bummer because this poor lady lost $2,700, but it's also a bummer for you and I. There's no way that things like this make skaters look good, and we've already got a pretty rough reputation. So let me ask you - are all skaters criminals? Is it something built into skateboarding, that makes skaters want to be evil? Or is it simply that skateboarding attracts deviants?
You should know that I'm joking. I don't think this way. But there are LOTS of people who do. People with the authority to push through laws and city ordinances. So what's your answer to them? I'd really like to hear from some of you readers - post your comments below!
Comments
A. The women was probably some type of manager, carry that shifts cash to be deposited…and B. yes the skateboard is the best get away vehicle, and C. to ride a skateboard one of the prerequisites is to have a criminal disposition or an attitude that says GET THE F**K OUT OF MY WAY OR I WILL TAKE THE 2700 DOLLLARS OUT OF YOUR HAND WITHOUT QUESTION!
It is obvious that (the act or the practice of) skateboarding does not make one a criminal – if it did, the X Games, Fuel TV, and MTV, for example, would be inciters of unlawful behavior, instigators of illicit deeds, ringleaders of a worldwide mob of bandit youngsters – all that while making considerable amounts of money.
“Skateboarding is not a crime” is likely to be the activity’s most recognized adage. From stickers and graffiti stencils to t-shirts and book titles, we’ve been reading, hearing – and saying – this motto for longer than most skateboarders can remember.
Sadly, this judgmental slogan (that attaches the name of the sport to a denial and a wrongdoing, all in a single phrase) is likely to stick around for a while.
Or, at least, until people stop buying into preconceived news reports like the one in question – they serve only to repeat the dissemination of misinformation, fueling this narrow-minded cycle of prejudice and bigotry.
I think youre right, and just because he was on a skateboard doesnt mean that all skaters are criminals.
Skateboarding does not make you a criminal. Skateboarding makes you a athlete. It takes skill in to skateboard. Sure there are people who skateboard who are criminals just like their are football(Micheal Vick)players, and baseball(Pete Rose players who are criminals. I guess if the person had on a jersey for a team it would be different story. Get real people. Skateboarding is not a crime.
skateboarding doesnt make u a criminal but people dont under stand the passion of being on a skateboard so they think when people grind hand rails or skate in private property that we are trying to get attention or trying to damage something. i hope this gets forgotten soon becuz this gives a really bad remark for skateboarders.
We all have to work overtime to help skateboarding’s image. The corporate side uses the negative image as a marketing tool and it works. Kids love the outlaw image and that’s cool. I am basically a longboarder/cruizer Because I am too old (54) and clumsy to do much else and I love to bomb hills and rip through traffic and thread my way through sidewalk crowds. I am currently in Russia and the lack of regulation is really refreshing. Basically as long as you don’t hurt any civilians and don’t cause any property damage, anything goes. I find that as an American skater in a country where we (Americans) are not exactly popular these days I am also sort of an unofficial diplomat. I am very careful and polite. and try to project a good image while still having a heck of a lot of fun and spreading the stoke. So far so good… Perhaps this is a good model of behavior for all skaters everywhere. If you witness anything like what was reported in Utah skate the SOB down,grab the money and give it back.
skateboarding is not a crime whoever thinks otherwise is a B**ch
NO SK8ERS R NOT CRIMINALS
this really sucks for us skaters it makes a bad rep for not includin we already hav 1 no i dont think all skaters r criminals but i do think alot of skaters do happen 2 b bad asses but only bcuz da best spots r illegal 2 skate in
Skateboarders get a bad rap that’s for sure. I’m a dad who skates with his three boys each week at the skate park in our town. It amazes me that every two weeks the park is tagged with some type of obnoxious graffiti, usually involving the male genitalia. Because my boys and I skate early in the morning on the weekends, they are not teenagers yet, we contact the police who believe that we’re ALL bad and threaten to shut the park down.
I’m really not sure how to change the way that most view us but wish that I could. I stopped subscribing to the major skateboarding magazine because it made me sick just reading the editorial. Reading that magazine you’d think we were all a bunch of jacka*ses looking to crap on the world around us.
Skateboarding is not and should not be considered criminal! The problem is it does have that imagine and as stated above the media tends to use this, the skaters tend to enjoy this “rebel” aspect and then there are jerks like this person who only reinforce the imagine. This was a major battle for me as I worked with youth on building our community skatepark. We spent an entire yr. and a half trying to persuade people that not all skateboarders are criminals out to run you over with their boards, rob you and take your children.It continues to be an issue for us now that we have the park. I am constantly talking to skaters about their language, their laziness in picking up their garbage, in general their attitudes. We have one rule at our park that I enforce with an iron hand. Respect! Show respect, you get respect. Otherwise I will show you off the park! I’m someones grandma so I am not your typical skateboard supporter. I love the sport/art of skateboarding because it offers so many life lessons. Persistance, determination, dedication, passion, athletic endurance are just some of the things I’ve witnessed in watching this sport and getting to know the participants. So NO skateboarding should NEVER be labeled a crime!
About 5 years ago I got together with two Councilmen to begin the process of having a skatepark built in our city. When it was all ready to go, we had Team Pain design it, the state had given the city grant monies, but then a large group of “constituents” banded together and came before the council and gave every negative stereotype of skateboarders imaginable. Graffiti, crime, drugs, you name it, skateboarders where blamed for it all. I was shocked and I thought of my kids, honor role students, good kids who have never given me problems, straight edge kids who are compassionate and kind. Yet because they skateboard this is what they think of my kids? The project was cancelled the city ended up loosing 80,000 they had already invested in the project and the two Councilmen lost their reelections. What brings on these bad stereotypes? I was suddenly more aware of the negative stereotypes of skateboarders. Have you noticed in so many professional skate videos the scenes of skaters fighting, running or getting caught by the police…so bad ass. There are bad stereotypes of skaters everywhere, even the name of many skate parks seem rebellious. All I can say to my kids and their friends is that they will be stereotyped, they will be stopped by the police, they will be given dirty looks, they will be followed by the mall cop, smile be polite and continue to break the stereotype. Be themselves, continue to be good kids and continue to be better than everyone expects. Skateboarding will always have that stigma, all you can do is embrace it and make the best of it.
skaters are criminals like Micheal Vick is a good guy!
If they use incidents like this to judge all skaters as criminals then one can say that everybody who wears a hoodie while walking at night is a thief….
No dis s**t is dum as f**k!! Fareal man. sum dudes dat sk8 do steal, i steal but not all da time, jus candy nd phones nd ipods frm kids at skool. but steriotypes is all ppl have ta say, i no dudes dat sk8 dat make striat A’s nd have never got in trouble wit a teacher. nd dat story is f**in dum i really dnt believe it, i doubt dat n***a would of had time ta git away. F**K DA world
That is so lame!! Obviously, this guy is a just a plain crook who HAPPENS to be on a skateboard. He couldv’e been on a bike, in a car on ROLLER Skates. The thing is– skating has always been associated w/the poor, quirky, odd kids. People need to rise up and realize that skating takes a lot of talent, tireless hours of practice and devotion AND happens to be a BONAFIDE sport. We skaters are still quirky and WEIRD and wear that label proudly–BUT Thieves I think not.
O please, people make and do stupied s**t.but just because he was on a skateboard should not give other skaters a bad name.people that ride bikes could do the same and in cars,scooters,motorcycles,i mean some people are stupied enough to walk,or run and do it to.But the people with the 4 wheels with a board on top allways get the names and looks i know i have a 14teen year old that gets all that. And no he or his friends have never did that kind of crap.Who knows that person could have stole the skateboard too for all we know.
yeah this is stupid. people in other sports like football r looked up to and if they r on steroids no one cares and last time i checked, that was illegal. people rob places and get away in cars way more than skateboards and yet we all still drive cars. honestly u cant really understand skateboarders unless u r one, and u know the kind of drive and passion it takes to stick with it.
i love how everyones making this look like the fact that the guys on a skateboard is a crime. like, they dont even care to listen until they find out that the guy was on a skateboard.
that was stupid of that guy but yes a skateboard would be a good get away device
why do people think skating is a bad thing? i seriously don’t see how it could be so bad. im in the 7th grade and i had an mla paper that i had to do i was thinking about doing it over the weekend until i broke my finger and wasn’t able to do it. today i went to skool and the class that the paper was do for the teacher asked me for my paper and i said i didn’t have it then she got mad at me and said she’s going to e-mail my mom. when she was done with that she looked at me with a serious face and said well Charles if you were righting your paper instead of skating you would be a better student and then everyone started talking and i just told her i would rather be skating then typing a stupid paper and she looked at me with a face that was saying all skaters are juvinial delinquents and that really pissed me off!!!!!
Skateboarding isnt a crime. Comparing individuals to there skateboards is entirely judgemental. You see, alex rodriguez was cought doing steroids, does that mean every MLB athlete does steroids. Or how about Kobe Bryant and the rape accusations. Does that mean every NBA athlete rapes a girl. Absolutely not, You see, people need to stop comparing kids to there skateboards. There the actual skateboarders who go out to skate and better the skills. And then there are the kids with skateboards who use it as transportation or uses it because of its ridiculous outlook. Skate and destroy isnt our actual impression we want. We want to skate and create a new name of all skaters world wide. And release the kids with skateboards from your assumptions upon us.
NOT SKATING IS A CRIM
I agree with JL and Tajhe.Sure there are some of the wussy skaters out there,like the ones that actually care about there grades,and do stuff to purposely impress teachers.These people should NOT sall themselves skaters.There wusses.Skaters are criminals,get used to it.
Skating is not a crime in any way. Why would anyone think that anyways? the person did the crime, not the skateboard. It’s just a board with wheels what’s wrong with that. It was the person’s bad decicion. A LOT of kids skate where i live, and none of them are bad kids. Some of them are the nicest kids you’ll meet. I’m trying to learn to skateboard myself. I would never break a law, I’m not a criminal. Yes, it does make a good getaway vehicle. However that doesn’t mean that skateboarders all use skateboards to steal someones bag of money. They are NOT IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER CRIMINALS. My cousins don’t skateboard but they do live in a very small town in Upstate New York.
i don’t think skateboarding is a crime. but, whatever a skater had done, it reflects everyone in the skateboard community. please, show them how positive we are. I am a teacher trainee, and also a skateboarder. I would never left the board whatever will be. I rather to teach my future-student on how to be good in skateboarding and guide them to built good moral values through skateboarding. since peoples in my country has negative perspectives toward the skateboarder. I would gladly to change it!