There are approximately18.5 million skateboarders in the world and over 12 million of them are right here in the United States. Skateboarding has been depicted as a negative sport that only causes destruction of property and some people see skateboarders as low-life kids. This prejudice is widespread and couldn’t be further from the truth. Due to the negative image of the sport, many skaters have to deal with harassment and hassles, and it’s got to stop.
In some cities skateboarding is prohibited and skateboarders can’t even go ten minutes at a spot they like to skate at without getting harassed by police. People need to realize how positive skateboarding can be and the positive affects it can have on people. With drugs and violence being one of the most poisoning things that affect teenagers in the United States, skateboarding has kept kids out of its path and changed some peoples’ lives forever.
Skateboarding is a sport in which a novice relies on friends to help build skills and get to the next level. It takes time and a lot of work to be able to learn new tricks and be good at it. Skateboarding isn’t about being able to do the best tricks; it’s about having fun and being with your friends. With positive friends that love skateboarding as much as you do, it can keep you away from drugs and violence because you’re always focused on getting to that next level.
Most skateboarders describe skateboarding as a natural high that cannot be compared to anything else they have done before. Even with all the positive things skateboarding can do to someone, it still has a negative image. More and more cities are banning this sport and making the life of as skateboarder harsh. Cites all over California are pushing to build skate parks to give skateboarders a place to skate so they won’t have resort to skating in busy urban areas where they’ll be harassed by law enforcement. Skateboarders need to show people how positive this sport can be and change the way people see it to make it grow.

One thing local area skaters have to contend with is finding a place to practice their skills. Colton Cesar Chavez Skate Park has been providing the skateboarders of Colton a place to participate in the sport they love and hang out with their friends. This park was built on a former tennis court with one ramp and two tiny rails. The city built this skate park with a very simple design and now skateboarders in Colton are starting to complain about it.

This park doesn’t really provide the skateboarders with an enjoyable place to skate and with nowhere else to skate in Colton, they have to resort to skating in other cities. Colton skaters have been complaining about this park for years and even nonresidential skateboarders talk about how bad it is. They are tired of the simple design of Cesar Chavez Skate Park and have been complaining to the community center about making the park better.

After the Colton City Council considered the creation of a new skate park at the former Cesar Chavez Park they agreed to build one for the skateboarders of Colton. Meetings were held to discuss the design of the new skate park and the skateboarders were promised a new skate park. It has been over two years now and the construction of this so called new Chavez Skate Park hasn’t broken ground. Colton’s skateboarders are tired of waiting for this new skate park and think this park will never be created. The city has still not made any announcements on when this park will be constructed. With the budget cuts made by the city of Colton this skate park looks like it’ll never happen. The skateboarders of Colton just have to wait and hope for this skate park to be built, but who knows when that’ll happen.