Okay, so to clear things up before I get started and so that you understand the point of this entry; my boyfriend does mountainboarding. Basically, he straps himself into an oversized skateboard and through himselves onto a downwards slope, perhaps doing some tricks along the way. Here's him doing some of his stuff:
Anyways, so now we're in Norwich, it's obviously a more built up area and so he's resorted to skate parks in order to get his fix (he admits it's an addiction). So today I dutifully went with him to the newest possible spot in order to do the 'girlfriend support' thing of watching him injure himself. No, I don't understand it either...
Anyways, once we got there, it became clear he wasn't going to be the only one on the skateboard. There was a mob of youngsters in roller skates already on the equipment. At the first site of the mountainboard it was like Christmas: "WOW! Look at that! Hey, can I have a go!"
This is where I emphasise the importance of community projects, for this skate park is one. Without it, these kids would have had nothing better to do than become obese or rob corner shops for penny sweets. It has given them a creative outlet, build relationships and have fun. You can see it being used through generations; older brothers bringing younger brothers etc etc
Although, you can see a clear example of the hierarchy of chidhood gangs. The older kids clearly were in charge of the younger ones; deciding which games to play and looking after the younger ones. My boyfriend added something new to the mix, bringing something that divided the group into the distracted and the bored. Some kids couldn't have cared less but others seemed to hold a sort of hero worship...a bit disturbing.
Eventually, when I was freezing my hair off my boyfriend said we could go back to the flat but I'm glad I wenrt. It showed me that not all kids from bad areas are bad themselves and that given the right tools, they can be as nice, if not nicer than those kids from privileged backgrounds.
Something to think about...
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About Me
- luckygirl37
- Okay, so I'm a first year law student looking for a way out of the university workload. Trust me, it can get that bad, but i'm sure it'll be worth it in the end. I crave some sort of creative output and so this blog is going to be sort of a diary of a university student. I love criticising and worshipping different media as well as socialising student style and spending time with the currently adoring boyfriend. i also love good food, a passion which also haunts me as i battle weight gain with avengence. Obsessed perfectionist and hopeless romantic, i love planned spontanaity and in this case oxymorons.
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