The Skateboarder Ideologies

The issue on the ordinance coming up about banning skateboarding in public parks has been a big issue, and it will be voted on soon. Some people are for the ban and some are against it. Both sides of the issue have valid points. Although I can see both sides of the argument I think the ban on skateboarding should be passed. I feel that the perks for banning skateboarding outweigh any of the negative outcomes that might come from the ban.

Peer pressure can take place whenever people gather and spend frequent time together. Most people are subject to its effects and often experience it because of shared experiences or they share the same perspective on life. This becomes dangerous when a group has enough influence to dictate an individual’s way of thinking or behavior. When an individual is desperate to find a place to belong, they will follow the crowd even if they know that they are participating in something immoral; this is demonstrated in “We Real Cool.”

Are they rejecting social norms as well? Or has this fight club in turn become the norm, and therefore members are joining it to fit in?

In this analysis I will cover the different aspects of sport subculture and what it means to be a recognizable member within a group. I will give examples of what it means to be a part of such subcultures. For example, shared ways of dressing, group status and credibility, as well as some of the groups norms and rituals. The specific group I will discuss will be my basketball team and the role I play within it. Because my team is at highly competitive level, our norms may be unlike to other teams’ especially those of less competitive teams. Each and every team has their own culture and practices, and it is through these that they identify themselves as being different from other teams along with giving them an identity and a

In,”Slam, Dunk, & Hook”, the author writes about a group of boys playing a game of basketball with a lot of emotion. The author states in line 24-26,”When Sonny Boy’s mama died He played nonstop all day, so hard our backboard splintered.” The players are filled with anger that is caused by all the tragedies that keep occurring in their lives. The anger started to pile on so much that they started to play the game as way to let out the anger instead of letting it take over their actions and lead them to act out in violence.

The norms of skateboarding are more masculinity, participant control and the de- emphasizing of competition. Participant control is that there is not any referee, no penalties or set plays. With the lack of formality, it allowed them to show who they really are. De-emphasizing of competition means to reduce the need of competing against others.

Gidget, a 1959 film about a young girl who falls in love with surfing, helped establish a prominent foundation for surfing in California. To some, the film may simply be a feel-good story about surfing and American teen culture. To others, it’s about breaking stereotypical gender roles and their associated societal norms. The film released soon after World War II and the subsequent baby boom. This was a time with gave Americans a fresh new look on life, and a time when many young adults and teens had plenty of leisure time. “Gidget also marked the end of an era and the start of a new one.” Surfing and Gidget play a monumental role in shaping this new era by defying gender roles and leaving a lasting imprint on society.

Cobourg is a small town with about 18,520 people; this town is known for hockey between both men and female leagues. In this small, suburban town, hockey is a shared interest among the teenage age group and some of these teenagers are a part of the female rep hockey league. This social group often treat each other like they are a big family, almost like they are each other support system. This social group causes social solidarity within this town, making the group distinct from others. A Social group is formed when individuals come together and express the same interest, which forms a bond between the group. The social group contributes to different diversities joining the group which leads to life long friends. From my experience, being a member of a social group contributed to the discovery of my self identity and individuality.

The subcultures have often been considered as the phenomenon that stands out from the society and contradicts it. Nevertheless, the emergence of any type of subcultures is to a high extent stimulated and supported by the social factors as well as historical ones. The events that triggered the emergence and the development of the Z-Boys group and their subculture that later transformed into the complete culture and ideology among the American youth. The documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys depicts the story of a group of outstanding surfers who decided to use their skills on land and popularized the skateboarding in Santa Monica and throughout the United States. While in the 1970s both surfing and skateboarding were the countersport cultures, the

In his research Jay Macleod, compares two groups of teenage boys, the Hallway Hangers and the Brothers. Both groups of teenagers live in a low income neighborhood in Clarendon Heights, but they are complete opposites of each other. The Hallway Hangers, composed of eight teenagers spend most of their time in the late afternoon or early evening hanging out in doorway number 13 until very late at night. The Brothers are a group of seven teenagers that have no aspirations to just hang out and cause problems, the Brothers enjoy active pastimes such as playing basketball. The Hallway Hangers all smoke, drink, and use drugs. Stereotyped as “hoodlums,” “punks,” or “burnouts” by outsiders, the Hallway Hangers are actually a varied group, and much

Throughout my five years continuing on my sixth; I had never became so close to any sport/club offered at my school. Our team is considered a “family.” We stand by eachother through times of doubt and reminisce on our good memories. We enjoy the company of one another. Every Friday night before our Saturday morning races, the team would all sit down together and have a nice meal together. The team is a close knit group even with students joining and graduating from the

It is sad to see how these teenagers think of themselves as being cool because of the activities they choose to do, when they each see how it is making them live a shorter life and none of them are doing a thing about it. Life is worth more than feeling cool. Proverbs says, “Since they hated knowledge…the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them” (Proverbs 1:29a, 32). The teenagers in “We Real Cool” have an image of their selves as being cool on the outside because of the badly behaved things they are taking part in and want others to think them as being cool. These teenagers want to think that they are cool for doing the things they do, but they know that the destructive life they live will soon be a factor to their deaths. Brooks demonstrates in “We Real Cool” that even though people acknowledge their own behavior and think of themselves as being cool, their destructive ways will be a part of their short lives and none of their coolness will ever matter again.

Society has had a limited impact on my lifestyle, mostly because I despise trends. The largest trends I despise are rap and hip-hop and the clothing, attitudes, and type of speech that that type of ‘music’ is breeding. I chose to steer away from that crowd, but it may also be because I live my life off of adrenaline. My high on life is the energy I have when I get my blood pumping, my heart pounding, and my adrenaline raging. Most aspects of my individuality reflect that very well. I love hard, aggressive music, and also guns, but my passion in life is extreme sports, whether it be on a dirt bike, a bmx bike, a snowmobile, or a snowboard. I have a strong set of morals and ethics that I have partly adopted from my parents, but some are also partly my own. My morals mostly consist of karma (being kind, caring, helpful, truthful, and considerate to others), not littering (especially in nature), respecting nature, keeping a clean and welcoming home, success that is measured with happiness and not possessions, and having strong family ties. I feel that I am very strongly rounded individual who is going to go far in life. Many people would agree with that, although some people just think that I am an absolutely crazy person who has a death wish and will not go anywhere but to the hospital or the morgue.

Jack Kerouac was one of a group of young men who, immediately after the Second World War, protested against what they saw as the blandness, conformity and lack of cultural purpose of middle-class life in America. The priorities of people of their age, in the mainstream of society, were to get married, to move the suburbs, to have children and to accumulate wealth and possessions. Jack Kerouac and his friends consciously rejected this pursuit of stability and instead looked elsewhere for personal fulfillment. They were the Beats, the pioneers of a counterculture that came to be known as the Beat Generation. The Beats saw mainstream life as a prison. They wanted freedom, the freedom to pick up and go at a moments notice. This search for

But not all video games are violent: in fact, video games can promote cohesion through cooperation rather than competition. Multiplayer games sometimes implement a cooperative mode enabling players to use teamwork to achieve a goal instead of contending for supremacy. This cooperative multiplayer encourages “(against the stereotype of gaming as a socially isolating action) the development of team, social,