Roller-shoes: a plot to incapacitate our children

I've never liked those roller-shoes that kids sport nowadays.

It has nothing to do with the fact that, in addition to being butt-ugly, they make a kid's foot look bloated and gargantuan. No, what really irks me about them is the inherent danger they pose.

Consider that stores such as Target, Walmart, Sam's, Home Depot, etc., all have aisles amidst hard surface floors. The floors, whether linoleum or concrete, are ideal surfaces for roller-skating (or is it, roller-shoeing?). This is unfortunate, because kids shouldn't be allowed to whiz down raceways that contain multiple intersections.

Rather than being called skate-shoes, they should be called collision-footwear.

Apparently, according to this Yahoo!News report, there were 1,600 emergency-room injuries from these roller-shoes last year. From the article,

The injuries were mostly in children, the target market for the wheeled shoes that send kids cruising down sidewalks, across playgrounds and through shopping mall crowds.

Yeah, it's the last bit that concerns me - through shopping mall crowds. Kids shouldn't be riding these contraptions through a store for the same reason we wouldn't let someone ride a mountain bike through a store.

Comments

[Heelys Shoes]

All I can read was a bad feedback about the roller shoes. Its good to be aware about the safety for the kids, but they can also prevent this by the help and guidance of their parents.