mead
mead
goat skulls and AK-47s, and semi-evolved
Steroid unchers who would just as soon
SKA fate fag" into a garbage can as
they would dip into the Copenhagen. This
sorry state of affairs leads many a
wheelhead to loathe school with a ply-
warping passion-who wants to spend eight
hour a day in a place where ninety
percent of the people consider you a freak,
& geek or a menace to society?
"Bo the only reasonable solution," you
say, "is to drop out, step on and roll away."
No way, man. Rather than abandoning a
potentially valuable resource (for friends,
knowledge, and hot dates, among other
things) try to change your approach.
First of all, make sure you appreciate the
benefits of being a student. Room and board
are free, but you know that already and
sometimes the trade-offs for those comforts
are pretty harsh ("break the rules and we
take your skate," for instance). A big
benefit most rolling book-crackers fail to
NO
SKATEBOARDS
54 THRASHER MAGAZINE
TD77
fully enjoy is the huge, smooth, obstacle-filled playground
sitting right outside your classroom. The pics on these pages
don't lie-schoolyards are cop-free car-free carefree streetstyle
havens. It may take clandestine efforts to access this priceless
pave, but you're not a real skater if you can't find a way to
skate what must be skated.
Second of all, don't look at school as torture, look at it as a
challenge-like pulling that first handrail slide or dropping into
a ten-foot pool. Running away from school is really just letting
the system beat you. Instead, use some of the skills and
information they've shoved down your throat for the past ten
years to beat it. "But," you say, "everyone there hates me, the
principal won't let us keep our boards in our lockers, skating
on das kampus is verboten, the librarian banned Thrasher,
and no one will cut me any slack." The thing is (and this is
HO
true in every aspect of life,
not just school), if you want
some slack, you have to cut
your own.
"But how?" you
ask. Well, here are a few
pointers:
-Get Organized.
Round up your whole
skate posse, sit down after a
hard session and figure out
how school is bumming your
life and what you can do to
change it.
-Put It Down On Paper
Use what they taught you
in your English and typing
classes to lay down a
coherent condemnation of
the screwed up scholastic.
environment you study in.
-Get Support
Try to publish your
condemnation of the system
in the school and local
papers. Getting everyone
mand
Mead reclub meadoduce ameador
you know to sign a petition is helpful,
but if you want results, a little more
effort may be necessary. Find an open-
minded teacher who will be your
ally-hopefully someone who's been
around for a while (they'll probably
I have more pull). Talk to sympathetic
parents first, then work on the
unsympathetic ones (they'll probably
be more receptive to an idea that
comes from both their children and
their peers). If your arguments are
persuasive and your case is stated
clearly, you might be surprised at the
outpouring of support. A few key
points that might help your case are:
Skateboarders are an opressed and
misunderstood lot. Contrary to popular
belief, they're not into vandalism,
satanism, drugs, crime or suicide.
Skateboarding is a non-violent, non-competitive, highly challenging sport which promotes mental
discipline, physical conditioning and creative individual expression.
Skateboards are cheap, efficient, environmentally sound transportation vehicles. Allowing students
to ride bikes to school but not skateboards is blatant discrimination.
-Confront The Establishment
Bring your skate crew, your
parents and your profs to meet.
with the big guys-you know,
those administrators whose
pictures are hanging on your dart
boards. Begin by assuming that
these guys are actually pretty
reasonable. If you've got a good
case and a lot of support, then
they'll look like jerks if they blow
you off. Don't, however, let them
shine ou ou make sure they
follow through their promises.
If they don't promise you nothin
but ouble, maybe you should
give them some trouble of your
own but remember, these drooling
idiot bave power over your life
Rally fore support. Instead of
blowing up their can blow their
min and their scane by going
above their heads (o, the school
board the superintendent of
schools the maron don even
bother with George B., we know
where he stands)
So there you have
Fue
queline to help you acha lo
skate liberation. Just pamember,
like the boys in D.O.A. y
"Talk Action = 0."
BY Ray
55