bad parenting to go
You mean those shoes with rollers in them are dangerous? OMG, who'd have thought.
1,600 roller-shoe injuries reported
Accidents from trendy roller shoes are far more numerous than previously thought, contributing to roughly 1,600 emergency room visits last year, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Wednesday.
Those injuries were mostly in children, the target market for the wheeled shoes that send kids cruising down sidewalks, across playgrounds and through shopping mall crowds.
...
On Monday, a report in June's Pediatrics said 67 children were treated for roller-shoe injuries at a Dublin, Ireland hospital during a 10-week period last summer.
Heelys, the most popular brand, are sold in 70 countries. They're made by Carrollton, Texas-based Heelys Inc., which maintains that the shoes have a safer injury rate than skateboarding, inline skating and even swimming.
I wonder if anyone's counted up the injuries to adults who were trying to avoid injuring or being injured by a child in these shoes.
The popularity of these shoes is evidence of some seriously questionable parenting. When I see a kid on these things, it evokes in me a similar reaction as when I see a parent in the supermarket check out line letting his kid use an empty grocery cart for a death-(or at least serious injury)defying gymnastics routine. I am horrified, worried, and angry. With roller shoes in the mix, the stunt inclined child can cover more ground faster than ever before which means that, depending on the child's trajectory, coordination abilities, and general motor skill, I and other horrified bystanders can now easily become part of the neglected child's hijinx.
4 comments:
I...am a bad parent. I would have bought these for my kids if I'd found them at a good price. They look fun. I actually wanted some for myself.
*hanging head in shame*
Aw....shoot. I knew my friends how are not rotten parents might feel stung. Warning! Not you! Why? because there is no way in hell you would let your kids careen (sp?) up and down the supermarket aisles in these shoes. If your kid did start doing that, I imagine they wouldn't have the shoes much longer.
I suppose I should have said the shoes themselves are not the problem - no more so than the grocery cart is. In the hands of people whose kids are already routinely left to entertain themselves by doing backflips off relatively mundane objects in the shared environment, these things become a friggin' menace. These shoes remind me of the old saturday night live bad halloween costume skit. You know, "Johny Invisible Pedestrian!"
I had Pop-a-Wheels as a kid, and was fortunate enough to find a pair at a second-hand store, in my adult size, some 18 years ago. I've kept and cherished them all this time, but I think they got lost in my last move. :-( They are a fabulous relic. Then again, I grew up in a time when kids would walk out the door, say, "See you at dinnertime, Mom," and that would be the end of it. Now--well, you can't do that now. I think I'd probably think twice about giving these to my kid, if only because I live in fear of losing my teeth, so I intend to transfer that fear to her.
I think it does come down to judgement on the part of the adults around the kid. These ought to be considered roller skates - functionally they are. It's just that they have such unobtrusive wheels built into a shoe and that throws people like the T officials who would otherwise not allow a child in roller skates access to the train platform - I've watched this scence in abject terror (and I don't even like kids) many times now.
P.S. I know you would never do that CJ
Rosey's Person
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