What Makes a Skateboarder? Teaching High School Students How to Conduct Sociological Inquiry

In most places in the world, teachers might be concerned that skateboarding will take students out of school rather than keep them in. Outside Afghanistan, skateboarding has long had an aura of rebellion. Rose and Strike labeled skateboarding as "dangerous" and "rebellious." Atencio, Beal, and Wilson call attention to its "non-conformity" and embrace the "risk." A T-shirt from the 1990s protested, "Skateboarding Is Not A Crime," but even "The New York Times" has called the skateboard "a talisman of youthful rebellion." These are discomfiting words to describe an activity shared by several million people in the United States, many of whom sit, perhaps disinterestedly, in middle and high school classrooms. What makes a skateboarder, really? Do skaters' teachers and peers understand? And if not, how can they begin to? This study focused on the process of socialization created by skateboarders, in addition to the actualization of skate boarders' position within the skateboarding culture and its various communities. While skateboarding serves as one of the oldest examples of skate sports still exercised today, many people's understanding of the sport (and of those who identify with it) is filled with ambiguity and misconceptions. A lesson plan is included with a hand out.