Monday, February 05, 2007

Wheels and Heels

The Express-Times has an article today by Michelle Pittman (read it here) about Heelys shoes and the emerging problem of kids using the heel skate in school and public places.

Heelys are the sneakers that have a wheel in the heel that allows a person to shift weight off the toe to skate. The company has been making them for six years but only in the past two have they come to be popular locally.

The popularity, of course, means more students will wear them in school and public places.

Pittman interviews a pair of Nazareth Middle School students and their parents about the shoes and where the skating can be done.

The article also points out that the wheel can be easily removed allowing a child to take the wheel out, wear the shoe during school, and then pop it back in at the end of the day.

Given the option to skate combined with growing numbers of kids who have them, you can expect most to use good judgment, while some students use them at the wrong time. The good judgment, though is the trick. Kids need to learn from their parents not from watching the ones who chose to skate anywhere, anytime.

What do you think? Has there been a place that you've seen a kid using the skate that wasn't appropriate? Is there harm in using them at all?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I wish they made them in adult sizes. They look fun.
I see kids use them in stores all the time. It's annoying and probably unsafe, but no more annoying or unsafe than any adult on a cell phone driving in a car.