Grizzlies in.. Gear!? Ft. Carol & Jordan Harrison

The podcast episode discusses the issue of skaters not wearing protective gear. The host conducted research using an online poll and found that many skaters choose not to wear gear due to reasons like discomfort, looking goofy, and cost. Despite knowing the benefits, they still don't wear it. Interviews with skaters suggest that the rebellious culture of skating and lack of awareness contribute to this behavior. The host suggests promoting education and having skaters who have experienced serious injuries speak out to encourage safety. A cultural shift is needed to change the negative views on protective gear in skate communities. Hey there, and welcome to Shape Up with Keba, a podcast dedicated to all topics health, well-being, and fitness. I'm your host and wellness enthusiast, Nakayba Evans. The topic of this episode is something I've been highly invested in understanding and bringing attention to for the longest time. So without further delay, let's get right into it. If you tuned into my previous episode on hobbies and well-being, where I talked about longboarding as one of my favorite activities examined through parts of Dr. Hettler's Dimensions of Wellness model, then you may recall a few of the fundamental rules I covered when it comes to either longboarding or skateboarding. As a brief refresher, I've talked about consistently practicing on the board, making sure to have fun, and most importantly, wearing protective gear, which include things like a helmet, elbow and knee pads, and wrist guards to help with ensuring maximum safety and protection. Unfortunately, this is one of the most commonly broken rules in every skate community across the country, including our own here at Georgia Gwinnett College. Many skaters simply do not wear protective gear, and to better understand this phenomenon within the skate community, I decided to conduct my own research within the realm of skate culture to see what some of the leading causes were for my fellow skaters opting not to wear protective gear. For this, I created an online poll with a set of questions based on a theoretical framework developed by a group of social psychologists known as the Health Belief Model. Sorry, but ever since the early 1950s, the Health Belief Model has been used to predict and explain behaviors related to health, as well as serve as a guide regarding health promotion and disease prevention programs. Ultimately, this model seeks to comprehend under what conditions, like perceived severity and susceptibility, cost, benefits, and barriers that a person will engage in certain health behaviors, such as preventative screenings and routine checkups or seeking treatment for a health condition. So, for example, one of the questions from my poll was, on a scale of 1 to 4, with 1 being the least likely and 4 being the highest, what would you rate your likelihood of falling and getting badly injured while skating? Of the 50 skaters who took my poll, 57% said 2, sometimes but rarely, while 7% said 1, never. And when I decided to try and get more specific, I'd ask what some of the main reasons why they weren't wearing a helmet or protective gear, with answers ranging from things like A, a lack of comfort while skating, B, getting hot or sweaty too quickly, C, looking goofy, D, the process of putting on gear being too time-consuming, and E, all of the above. Based on the poll data, 15% of the skaters said that their lack of gear usage was due to a lack in comfort while skating, 23% said they would become too hot, and a whopping 62% had chosen all of the above. But get this, when I asked my poll participants to rate how beneficial they thought wearing a helmet or protective gear was, 14% reported that it was somewhat beneficial, as opposed to the 50% who said wearing protective gear was very beneficial. So, why then was it that so many skaters knew that wearing protective gear was beneficial, but simply wouldn't wear it despite what seemed like minor barriers? To help me better understand this, I had the opportunity to speak with Miss Duke, a former skater in her older years, and JoJo, an IT major and longboarder. When I posed this question to Miss Duke, she said, Well, a couple of the main reasons why I think people, such as myself, because I was guilty, I did not wear protective gear, was because it just didn't look comfortable. It was bulky and looked awkward, and I didn't think that I would fall. I never thought of injuries, you know, I thought I was being careful. And so, the fact that it wasn't fashionable, and it was just bulky and bulky looking and uncomfortable was one of the reasons why I didn't wear gear. And then another one that I never really considered was the fact that it was it was additional money that you had to pay for the gear, and I didn't have that money. So, in hindsight, though, I would have considered maybe saving to put away for the gear and used it, but hindsight is 20-20. Then, I asked her what she thought we could do as a community to encourage more skaters to wear protective gear while skating, to which she replied, Well, as a community, I think we need to really focus on the educational aspect of it to get it out there more, maybe by speaking to some skaters that have had pretty serious injuries, but weren't able to come back from them and then, you know, suffer irreversible damage because it can lead to pretty serious injuries, even up to death sometimes. So, to have them perhaps as spokespersons to educate the masses of people that will continue to skate and promote why safety is recommended while you're skating. I'd asked Jojo the same exact questions, and these were his responses. Well, I like this question because it's contradictory. So, I personally think that the culture around skating, formed in the 90s, got a rebellious attitude to it. I think a lot of those tendencies carried over to policies about safety equipment and safety use. Because when I think about the real reasons why someone would have a legitimate reason to not wear safety equipment, you know, it might be something about accessibility or affordability or maybe it's not stylish with whatever you're wearing for that day. I'm pretty sure that all of these issues have been solved and there would be some type of safety equipment that meets and accommodates each one of these questions. So, I don't think there's like a very good reason outside of the culture that's built around it. But as a community, I don't know how to get much more of a clear message. Well, I guess one of the other things that I think about is, I think I only know two or three skaters on campus and they all skate individually. I think if we felt like more skate crews and like large gatherings of skaters, you'd see like more safety equipment and it encourages everybody else too. But if you're alone, you know, I guess that wouldn't be one of the things that you think about. And also, I guess for campus purposes, a lot of people skate because, you know, they're trying to get from class to class fast and then, you know, you have to remember like, oh, do I want to pick up my safety equipment before class? And you're already running out the door. So, I think that has something to do with it too. And there we have it, folks. What we need in skate communities now more than ever, isn't just a behavioral shift, but a cultural shift that can potentially help to adjust their negative views on wearing protective gear. And that concludes this episode with CAPA. Thanks for listening, and I'll hear you in the next one.