I also think a community pool to learn to swim would be awesome. I would probably rather have that myself. My point is, ask a kid which one he would rather have. 
Skate Park
- Thread starter Bobby J
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BobbyJ, my daugther is a senior at Ole Miss and the City of Oxford has recently built one that has been very positively received in a city that is crazy for football and basketball.
Here is a link. http://www.oxfordms.net/recent/skatepark.htm
Here is a link. http://www.oxfordms.net/recent/skatepark.htm
Thanks Minnie! This is really awesome. I am puzzled why other places in the US do not have the liability concerns. SJ, I will speak to my friend. He told me that the law does not allow lawsuits. Of course we all know that any lawyer can work his way around that but I would believe more kids would be injured on a football field then a skate park. BTW, I am not opposed to team sports. I played all of them and hope my son does too. I just think our area needs more options.
I don't disagree with you, but I think it depends on the age group you look at. The younger ones love the team sports and learn lots of good things attending these programs. They might be there initially because their parent thought it was a good idea, but most of them do really enjoy it once they are introduced to it. I think a majority of these younger kids would say they want the fields (or a playground if they are younger than 4th grade).
I am by no means a team sports cheerleader, but in addition to the obvious benefit of the children learning a sport and how to work with a team, I've seen the team sports help build the community. Families connect with one another and work together to grow the area. Everyone sees a different need and will find people that have the same interest in building that aspect of the community. One of the reasons Mission Playpark! was created was to help build this sense of community with the families that have kids that aren't yet in school. There just isn't a place for moms (usually) and their small children to meet and get to know one another and form a community to support one another.
If you go to the fields that are used for soccer, during soccer season, you'll see that they are packed and creative scheduling is happening. Same is true for football, baseball and softball. It is frustrating that the fields aren't being used all year round, but as the sport season changes, the fields in season are packed. Trying to use multisport fields will help with this. As the kids get older, they will play the sports that they truly enjoy, not what their parents enjoy, so the numbers go down. I've seen this with my kids as they stop doing the sports they were doing to be part of the fun, and instead concentrate on those sports that they really, really enjoy and start to excel in. Skate boarding is one sport I've seen the 5th -8th graders move to (along with surfing!). I'm sure they started younger, but they really get a passion for it in the middle school ages.
As I said in my previous post, I do agree that that older kids want and need a place to skate. Many of the older kids have moved on from team sports and found that they love to skate and want a great place to do it without getting hassled. A large percentage of them will vote for a skate park. I totally support this and hope that the county and those that want to get involved are successful in getting all the recreational facilities we need for all ages. The more people there are asking for recreational facilities for the families in the area, the better.
Great post and agreed. Growing up here it was always frustrating to not have more options. Kids really change during those critical years you speak of. As a community we need to pull together to make sure a very large percentage of our kids are represented. I think we are sophisticated enough to offer this to our kids.
Well this is all very interesting,. I had no idea that there were so many of these skate parks. having been a tomboy when I was younger, I would have been all over something like this like white on rice, but then at that age, one thinks they are invincible and nothing catastrophic could happen, and lets face it, this is a riskier proposition than a playgound. You fall, you fall on concrete, not rubber mulch. You can't pad your whole entire body. 
I did a little googling and found an interesting article about the pros and cons of skate parks. Good food for thought. After reading it, and thinking about it, my main concern as a taxpayer in the County as far as liability is concerned, is the maintenace and upkeep of the park. Further, in the pictures I saw posted, I see cyclers. I read that there could be extreme liability in that respect. Who would stop the cyclers? would there be different levels of the park for smaller children? who would do the repairs? apparently a very talented concrete contractor is needed. Who would pay for the repairs? Would it be limited to residents only? and if no one is there to monitor that, what's to stop vacationers from dropping their kids off while they run over to the Destin Commons?
Here's a link to the article. It addresses all sides of the issue.
I am all for anything that advances kids intellectually and challenges them physically, but having just read that the Drama teacher paid for students materials out his own pocket makes you wonder where the priorities are right now in this County as far as what is spent and how.
I did a little googling and found an interesting article about the pros and cons of skate parks. Good food for thought. After reading it, and thinking about it, my main concern as a taxpayer in the County as far as liability is concerned, is the maintenace and upkeep of the park. Further, in the pictures I saw posted, I see cyclers. I read that there could be extreme liability in that respect. Who would stop the cyclers? would there be different levels of the park for smaller children? who would do the repairs? apparently a very talented concrete contractor is needed. Who would pay for the repairs? Would it be limited to residents only? and if no one is there to monitor that, what's to stop vacationers from dropping their kids off while they run over to the Destin Commons?
Here's a link to the article. It addresses all sides of the issue.
I am all for anything that advances kids intellectually and challenges them physically, but having just read that the Drama teacher paid for students materials out his own pocket makes you wonder where the priorities are right now in this County as far as what is spent and how.
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With all this talk about skate parks, I decided to borrow a spare board from a kid today, and we hit the streets in Grayton. I had a blast, and never crashed once, and the kid, who is about 7 or 8 years old, taught me a few skills. I had not been on a skateboard since 1977. It was almost as much fun as playing kickball, afterwards. I'm not quite ready for the ramps, as the flat ground was challenging enough, especially with all of the loose gravel.
I have a degree in Physical Education and believe me nothing is more dangerous than a playground of any type. Along with any sports be it, football, or especially gymnastics. Swimming pools too.
Many of our classes dealt with liability. I don't see the skate park being any more dangerous than an unsupervised playground.
There are very few activities that kids can participate in without another participant, therefore I can see the interest in a skate park by many.
Many of our classes dealt with liability. I don't see the skate park being any more dangerous than an unsupervised playground.
There are very few activities that kids can participate in without another participant, therefore I can see the interest in a skate park by many.
SJ, was that you in the middle of the street in front of the Red Bar with the little kid who looked as though he wanted to run right into my oncoming car....he moved and I stopped--just in time.
Two more reasons we need a skate park around here, I'd say;-)
Yes, that was us. He was doing pretty good about stopping the skating when the cars came. I kept reminding him, and he would call out, "CAR COMING!" to me. We were skating in the street because he was trying to skate down the rough wooden boardwalk in front of the Red Bar and beside D&K's. It was too dangerous, as I about busted my face when the front wheels locked on a board which was set too high. I tried to get him to stay away from the expensive cars (typically, that is the shiny cars around here), but he didn't seem to know the difference.