Childhood Play Keeps Getting More Daring and Dangerous with New Gear
It’s doubtful any parent buys a skateboard, a scooter or a BMX bike for a child without wondering if a trip to the ER will soon follow.
Parents know the risks – and buy these high-injury-rate products anyway. So it’s not surprising then that our outdoor play seems to get more extreme each passing year, with equipment once reserved for the X Games or the Olympics increasingly showing up in family back yards.
It’s a common sight these days to see toddlers somersaulting on a backyard trampoline. As for skateboards and scooters, they’ve become as standard a childhood accessory as a bicycle or a wagon. (And what 8-year-old rides those these days?)
For more cutting-edge adventure, kids are balancing on slack lines tied between two trees, soaring off the backyard deck on a zip line or tooling around the neighborhood on a motorized unicycle.
To a doctor who treats broken bones and torn tissue, such product descriptions bring a wince. But Dr. Christopher Doumas, a spokesman for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, said he understands how hard it can be for parents to say “no” to their kids’ using toys or gear that are popular in spite of having lengthy and detailed warning labels.
The Orbitwheel, a cross between a skateboard and in-line skates, is recommended for kids 8 and older; we recommend a helmet and protective pads. It’s available for $99.95 at Inventist.com
The American Academy of Pediatrics discourages use of skateboards by anyone under age 5 and scooters by anyone under age 8. But Doumas’ 4 1/2-year-old and 3-year-old kids have them. “I can fix whatever they break — I guess that’s my mentality,” quipped Doumas, who practices in New Brunswick.