Hell on wheels
Posted
June 4, 2007 at
4:41 pm by
Jessica
I knew there was a reason I didn’t like them.
Our older son has been begging us for Heelys, the grammatically incorrect sneaker/roller skate hybrid that has wheels installed into the heels of the shoe. Those 7-year-olds you’ve seen magically gliding across the floor at Target? They’re wearing Heelys. All of his friends have ‘em. They’re so popular and yet so annoying his school decided to ban them. And of course, kids want things that are banned, it only adds to the coolness factor. But the school administration didn’t take too kindly to pupils wheeling down the halls at breakneck speed and leaving skid marks, go figure.
Now, WebMD has issued a warning about these SHOES OF DOOM:
In the study, published in Pediatrics, researchers tracked the number of roller shoe-related injuries at their Dublin hospital during the 2006 summer school holiday.
They found 67 children suffered orthopedic injuries while using Heelys or Street Gliders, such as broken bones or dislocated joints. Girls were much more likely to be injured than boys, and the average age of injured children was just under 10.
The study showed:
- Broken wrists were by far the most common type of injury reported. Other injuries included other broken bones in the arm, elbow dislocation, foot and ankle injuries, and broken bones in the leg.
- Injuries were most commonly caused by falling backward or forward as the child tried to transfer their body weight and find balance on the wheels. In a few cases, the injury was caused by jumping or a sudden change of direction.
- Most of the injuries happened while gliding outdoors on a road, sidewalk, cycle lane, or playground.
Researchers also found that 20% of the injuries occurred on the first time the child tried to use the roller shoes and 36% occurred while they were learning to use them.
As a parent who has been putting off procurement of these obnoxious and deadly foot accessories, any further excuse to keep my son from his roller-derby mayhem the better.
(And just because this is my blog and I can bitch if I want to: To the parents of the kids who allow them to skate through the grocery store like bats out of hell, you are a bunch of bastards!)
Tags: Health, heelys |
5 Responses to “Hell on wheels”
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1. julymom
June 4, 2007 @ 9:15 pm
I hate those damn things. One of our local malls is talking about banning them because kids are dangerous in them. Also, a kid nearly fell down the escalator a while back because he didn’t lift his foot in time and kept gliding. I will never (and I mean never) buy my son any. Hopefully by the time he’s old enough to want them though they will be passe.
2. STL Mom
June 4, 2007 @ 9:29 pm
Oh, this makes me sad, because those shoes look so fun. I’ve been telling my daughter she can’t have them because they don’t make them in her size (she’s 7), but now I may have to change my story.
Does anyone else have this conflict where they don’t want to give their kids things that might be dangerous, but also remember how upset they were when their own moms refused to get them things? I can still remember how sad I was not to get clogs when EVERYONE ELSE (or so it seemed to me) was clomping down the halls loudly in them. My mom said I might twist my ankle, so I couldn’t have them. Of course I could go buy my own clogs now - but now I actually believe that I could twist my ankle!
So maybe the answer is to make a pact with the moms of all my daughter’s friends that none of us will buy Heelys, so my daughter won’t feel left out. And hope she forgives me one day…
3. Prescott
June 4, 2007 @ 9:56 pm
The mall should ban them — most have clear policies prohibiting the use of roller blades/skates, why should these be different? There’s a huge liability issue.
4. Allison
June 5, 2007 @ 10:39 am
(in an old woman’s raspy voice) Ah, yes. I do recollect some of the same kind of arguments back when I was a young’un. Yes, t’was before the turn of the century, and the devil product was them there “Slap Bracelets”. They was the “in” thing. Everybody had ‘em. ‘Cept me, of course. Then the schools banned ‘em ’cause kids’ wrists were being cut by them. Now they was “cool” and highly coveted. But soon parents joined together, stopped buyin’ them, sales dropped, and before ya’ knew it, they wound up in them “Dollar Stores”. That’s when my Ma bought me one. Thought she was bein’ one of them “cool moms”. ‘Course by now, they weren’t cool no more, and I was branded a loser.
Ah, yes. All this back when gas was under a dollar…….
5. DUH!!!
June 6, 2007 @ 3:41 pm
I’m shocked this is news! I mean, is there any adult in the world who saw those things and DIDN’T think, “Boy, you could get hurt on those things?” DUH!!! Ya know what I think when I see stories like this??? Quit wasting my time!