SKATEBOARDERS SHOW NO FEAR

"I've seen guys fall and smack the back of their heads and blood's going everywhere. It's not a pretty sight, and they still don't wear helmets or protection," says Chris Boyer, 19, a Greenwood skateboarding enthusiast.

Skateboarding has become increasingly popular with people of all ages. Indiana has more than two dozen skate parks, with more popping up all the time. Indianapolis currently has three, and Franklin, Fortville, Greenwood and Plainfield also have them.

But with an increase in pop ularity comes an increase in injuries, as inexperienced and unprotected skaters attempt difficult tricks like the pros. In 1998, skateboarding accidents accounted for 27,500 visits to hospital emergency rooms for U.S. kids ages 5 to 14, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Four years later, that number more than doubled.

Y-Press recently interviewed four skaters from Greenwood and Fortville to see how they perceive skateboarding's risks.

"I've played like every sport there is to play -- ice hockey, football, baseball, basketball -- and it's (skateboarding) one of the most fun sports I've ever participated in," Boyer said.

"I enjoyed skateboarding in high school because it was better than a coach yelling at you all the time," added Justin Pavey, 21, Greenwood.

"Also, it was new, something on the edge. There were no skate parks really around when I started skating."

Despite the increase in skate parks, many skaters still like the streets, which are free, have no closing times, and require no safety equipment.

"When it comes down to it, skate parks are open till 10 at night. They don't turn the lights on there until the beginning of May. What am I gonna do? I'm a college student, you know. I don't have class until 1 in the afternoon, so I want to go skating till midnight. I'm gonna definitely go find a street spot to hit up for the night," Pavey said.

"Most street spots have a lot of different stuff than the skate parks do," added Daniel Webster, 13, Fortville.

Dangerous surfaces

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 60 percent of skateboarding injuries occur while skating near traffic or on irregular surfaces, which are common on city streets. "Little rocks can get in your way, and if you hit one of those, you can fall down," Daniel explained.

Streets also contain the element of the unknown.

"Everywhere you go on the street, you're skating a new spot. You don't know what it's gonna be like," Pavey said.

Injuries can range from cuts and bruises to fatalities. In June, Matt Jennings of Bloomington fell from a skateboard being pulled by a motorized scooter; he sustained a lethal blow to the head.

The most common skateboarding injuries are wrist fractures and sprains, ankle sprains, face lacerations and lower arm fractures, according to the safety commission. While three of the skaters had not suffered anything worse than a twisted ankle, Pavey has had a broken eye socket and a broken tailbone.

Nevertheless, neither he nor the others use safety gear such as helmets, wrist guards and elbow and knee pads.

"Most of your falls and hurts are unpreventable. For example, when I fractured my eye socket, it was right (below the eyebrow). Helmets don't go down to there, so that was gonna happen regardless. When I fractured my tailbone, you can't wear like a butt guard," Pavey said.

"I might put on one elbow pad if my elbow's really bad, just to protect it," Boyer said.

The others complained that safety gear restricts movement and flexibility.

"It's just hot. It's just uncomfortable," said Anthony Michalisko, 12, Fortville.

"Sometimes if you wear stuff that's uncomfortable, you don't feel right and you might fall over," added Daniel.

Despite the risk of injury, Boyer said this attitude is not uncommon. "(Safety gear) has never been a part of the whole culture," he said, pointing out that professional skateboarders are rarely seen wearing safety gear, and it is rarely advertised. However, some pros, such as Tony Hawk and Bob Burnquist, wear safety gear when performing tricks on 50-foot ramps during the X Games, which are sponsored by EXPN.com, an affiliate of ESPN.

Youngsters more vulnerable

Six out of 10 skateboarding injuries occur among children younger than 15, according to the National SAFE KIDS campaign. The skaters say this is because younger kids tend to overestimate their abilities and are less able to cushion their falls.

"If you see like a whole bunch of people at the skate park and they're doing some things, they're probably not the things that you can do, but you try it anyway," Daniel said.

Experienced skateboarders also know how to fall, Boyer said. "It's almost part of skateboarding, knowing which way to land."

Because of the recent skateboarding fatality, state Rep. Peggy Welch, D-Bloomington, says she will propose a mandatory helmet law for skateboarders, in-line skaters and cyclists in the next session of the General Assembly. A similar law went into effect in California in 2003 for minors, and many young offenders have been ticketed.

None of the skaters Y-Press talked to believes a helmet law should be enacted here. Many skate parks already post signs stating that helmets should be worn, and they are often ignored. Such a law would be ineffective because it would be hard to enforce, the skaters say, and because many skaters prefer the streets.

"Every kid's just gonna throw on a helmet around a cop or security guard or whoever walks up," Boyer said.

But all agree that young or new skaters should wear some sort of protection. Boyer suggested that beginners "wear at least a helmet at first until they get comfortable because it's so easy to slip out from your board."

"They should wear helmets and pads for the first year or two, and I think (they're) important on ramps," Anthony said.

Though seen as dangerous, skateboarding is comparatively safe, with a lower rate of injury than basketball, football, bicycling and snowboarding, according to the CPSC.

"It looks crazy, some of the stuff we might do," Boyer said. "But when you do it every day, it's not anything out of the ordinary for us to jump down a flight of stairs. It's a thrill and it's fun, and you could say I love it."

ASSISTANT EDITORS: Ali Rader, 14; Akilah Michel, 14.

REPORTERS: Ethan Hetzler, 11; Izaak Hayes, 13; Clare Welch, 11.

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Y-Press is a nonprofit news organization with offices in The Indianapolis Star building. Stories are researched, reported and written by teams of young people ages 10 to 18. For more information, call (317) 444-2010 or send an e-mail to ypress@in.net.

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