Skating Through Life

Once upon a time, someone sat down to figure out how they could combine the clumsy awkwardness of childhood with the improved control one gets while stumbling around on roller skates, in order to bring the two together into a total package intended to grace a child’s feet as they go throughout their daily lives. Oh, if only we could bring the thrill of skating out of the roller-ring and into our homes. Rather than a flat, wide open surface buffed to perfection, we can have our kids skate around tables and chairs, up and down stairs, all with the thrill of sharp, pointy objects a mere arms-length away. At least, these are the thoughts that run through my mind anytime I see a child with roller-shoes.

Of course, it didn’t start out that way. I remember the love affair the first time a child showed up in the classroom with a pair. There were the ‘ooohs and aaahs.’ The drools from the other children, alongside a well placed “well I’ll be darned.” There we sat, marveling at this wonderful feat of human engineering. Both awestruck at the ingenuity of our fellow mankind and ashamed that we didn’t think of it first. Any ‘ole fool could dream up space flight. But to put skates on the bottom of everyday footwear? Now that’s true genius.

Then came the inevitable: “can you try them out Megan?” Happy to comply, the little girl popped out the wheels and was helped to her feet. For several moments she strolled around the carpet at a safe pace to exclamations of “that’s so cool” and a low-pitched murmur of coos coming from the other children. Then she hit the tile area. The first skate was planted without a hitch. However, as she shifted her weight to put her other foot in front, like a child stepping on a sudden ice patch, her feet were swept out from under her. She plopped butt first to the floor, sending a chair flying across the classroom in the process. Apparently no worse for the ware, she looked back to the class with a big smile on her face. We all laughed and laughed.

It turns out; this little trendsetter wasn’t the only one taking a spill. Doctors around the globe report treating injuries such as cracked skulls, broken wrists, arms or ankles; and dislocated elbows, all in children whose spills didn’t go as well as Megan’s. In the U.S. alone, around 1,600 emergency room visits occur each year after children take a spill while on shoe-skates, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. In the grand scheme of things, this isn’t exactly a child’s most pressing danger, but it’s hardly chump change either. As a result, many schools have even taken steps to ban the trendy footwear.

Read more at:
 www.keepyourchildsafe.org.