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When many people think about skateboarding, the image they have in their mind will be dark alleys with teenage juvenile delinquents illegally spray-painting the walls while the rest of them do their skateboard tricks.

Maybe that is over exaggerating a little but you have to admit that those who are convinced that skateboarding equals bad behaviour or attitudes, it isn?t really that far off from what they think. This may be due to the fact that skateboarding gained popularity as punk music did and skateboarding has always in general attracted the harder, more anti establishment and sometimes even aggressive individuals.

However, it is a complete misconception of skateboarding that it is a bad influence or causes people to become substance abusers or lawbreakers. Frankly, skateboarding is only as an bad influence as you let or allow it to be.

In fact, skateboarding is a sport that encompasses many admirable examples of people in society. There are many professional skateboarders whom are excellent role models for children, teenagers and even adults to follow. One example is Tony Hawk who is a dedicated family man and contributes plenty of money to charity. Another person is Rodney Mullen who is a friendly and humble fellow that holds a Masters Degree. Bob Burnquist is using his position to help the environment and provided many people with inspiration when he overcame his asthma to skateboard. Jereme Rogers fits the image of a skateboarder gone astray with his shaved head, tattoos and language but look and listen closer and you?ll notice his tattoos all portray his love of religion while he speaks of how he believes God granted him the talent and skill to achieve what he has.

How many parents are going to go out and say that their children should not follow these individual?s admirable example?

Yes, there are plenty of other skaters out there whom are not good influences but let us be objective. There are a number of other individuals such as athletes, geeks, cheerleaders, conservative ?nice? kids and even church going individuals who could very well lead people astray or influence badly. The one main reason skaters, particularly those who hold to the punk culture style, get a bad rap is mainly due to the way they look and their ?harder? attitudes that lean towards anti-establishment.

If there is still concern in regards of children or teenagers falling in with the bad crowd then there are plenty of places that provide safe and secure environments to learn and skateboard in for everyone?s peace of mind. A number of churches, associations and organisations have skateboarding clubs as well as hold activities for skateboarders to partake in. If you can?t find one after searching, then stick with people in places your familiar with and avoid those who are known to be less law abiding than acceptable.

Just apply some common sense, enjoy the experience and have fun. For parents, give your children a little room and trust that you have raised them with better values and intelligence than to get involved in things they shouldn?t. Be proud and encourage them. After seeing them skateboard, you may even want to give it a go yourself!

SKATEBOARDING/Skateboarding Bad.txt