Roller Skating:Dangers and Protection Free Essay Example

On Saturday morning, I was awaken by my sons because they want heading out the door for their morning skating. Actually when I was young, I did like the roller skating very much. Somebody maybe confused with rollerblading and inline skating. There are few differences but mostly a matter of preference. Inline skating is more of an adult activity, and roller skating is more of child activity.

Roller skating is with four wheels, two in front and two in back. Rollerblading and inline skating are the same with the wheels in one row lined up behind each other.

CPSC (U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission) statistics (Aldred, p. 77) regarding people’s death and injury from roller or inline skating indicates more preventive and protective gears are needed in the skating activities. In my opinion, preventive measures should be a priority in order to reduce the risk of being injured in the roller skating. First, preventive measures are to reduce the accidents occurring in the first place.

There are two distinct kinds of gear, preventive gear such as light reflecting materials and protective gear such as helmets. Preventive gear is intended to warn others, presumably for the most part motorists.

Protective gear is intended to reduce the effect of any accident, whether it is caused by another, the skater or some force of nature. Protective gear does a little, if anything, to prevent accidents but is presumed to reduce the injuries that occur in an accident. Second, preventive measures help skaters to improve.

Skaters have really different levels of experience, skill and physical coordination. It is entirely possible that further research would indicate that most serious injury is averted by the skater’s ability to react quickly and skillfully in the emergency situations.

Denise does encourage the beginners to master basic skills such as how to stop properly (Schipani, 2007, p. 77). For my understanding, it is better to take the lessons from a certified instructor or experienced skater before you try skating on your own. Know how to turn, control speed, stop and skate with your head up so you can recognize and avoid obstacles and other people. Practice falling on grass or a gym mat is also important so that when as real fall happens you will be prepared to fall the right way. For another, each time you head out, warm up with a gentle five minutes skate and then stretch to keep your muscles and joints oose.

This will help you avoid muscle tears and pulls. According to Robert (1983), “The properly executed weight training not only enhances performance and rehabilitates from injury, but it also protects against injury, roller skating does requires a degree of aerobic fitness as well” (Cantu p. 203&213). I fully support that a supplementary weight-training and resistive exercise program for roller skaters. In summary, better skaters have more fun and are less likely to get injured. Third, preventive measures create the discipline.

Choosing the right place to skate can go a long way toward preventing injuries, particularly for the beginner or fist-time skaters. When you are learning to skate, try to pick an area that is free of obstacles and other people, such as at the designated beginner’s area in rinks, parks, and back yard instead of streets or parking lots. If there are too many skaters at the same time, it is necessary trying to avoid the crowd in the places. Once your skills have advanced a little, you might want to consider heading to an indoor or outdoor skating rink before moving on to a skate park or trail.

Rinks are generally kept clean and free of debris and obstacles. Sometimes they may be crowded, the flow of traffic is controlled and monitored so you can get used to skating near other people. Actually they are the sites of roughly half of all skating injuries, or you can try to use recreational trails. In a word, try to avoid sidewalks and roads as much as possible. If you must use sidewalks or roads, never skate in traffic, be courteous to pedestrians, bicyclists and anyone else you might encounter, and always use crosswalks to get across streets.

Wherever you skate, as mentioned, again be sure there are no potholes, cracks, or other obstacles. Also to make certain the area is dry and free of wet leaves, oily patches, or ice. Aldred wrote that never skate at night (Aldred p. 479). I think it is also need to avoid skating at dusk, when hazards are more difficult to see and you are less visible to others. Additionally never skate when it is raining or snowing, as this will make surfaces slippery and increase your chance to getting hurt. Finally, roller skating has been perceived as a kid’s sport.

Indeed half of those skating are young people. In order to enhance those skater’s safety conscious, it is better to offer a short “safety first” lesson about skating either by coach or by parents before the kids start. The coach or parents can use the discipline as the guideline for those younger generations. Make sure to put them “safety first” in heart and follow the skating principle. Clark Gil highlighted the following principle “Skate Smart, Skate Alert, Skate Legal, and Skate Courteous” (July 1998, p58).

Last but not least, don’t let kids get overtired. There is a direct association between injury and sleeping less than 10 hours a night. Once the child gets out of there, watch for signs and then ask him or her to take a break. Most of parents just focus on the investment of protective gear for their kids. There is no doubt it will greatly reduces the risk of being severely injured in an accident, but may mask other significant causes of injuries and this may inspire people to over invest financially and psychologically in protective gear.

Actually the statistics on injuries suffered by skaters would be more interesting; it could provide skaters with a clear understanding of which kinds of gear are more beneficial. It is beneficial to create the skating discipline according to the annalistic of statistics results. For example, if the majorities’ injuries are skin abrasions and closed-head injuries, then a case can be made for the usefulness of protective clothing. Likewise, if injuries are caused by collisions with vehicles like bicycles and cars or pedestrians, then following up the skate discipline is a must to mitigate the occurrences.

If the primary types of injuries are soft tissue injuries such as torn ligaments and muscles, back injuries and the like, then a greater case could be made for training and experience as preventive measures. In conclusion, the accidents will be decreased greatly if people participating in the sports had proper training, good physical health, warm-up properly before beginning (stretching), as well as take other measures to prevent the possible injury, such as common sense and knowing your personal limitations as an individual.

From that sense, many different prevention actions are available to avoid the skating accidents before they are really happened. So I support the preventions should be a priority than protective in the roller skating. On the other side, there is no doubt to use protective gears if state legislation that requires helmet use while skating.