DuluthCommunityNews

At lunch he sits with his friends. A fly on the wall would look at them and see a page from a PacSun advertisement; they’re wearing nothing but Etnies, Billabong and Element. Each of his friends has the same worry as Jake; they’re all breaking the same rule.

After lunch, he gets to class without any issues and continues with his day. In the last few minutes of class, he plans his escape. He made it all day without any problems, but now teachers will be watching.

Once he gets to his locker he gets his backpack and checks the halls. It’s clear, so he grabs what he needs and lines up with his friends.

“It’s harder for the teachers to see when we’re in a big group,� said Jake.

When he finally reaches the other side of the street, he knows he’s free. He throws down his board and throws away any worry that he’ll be caught today.

At Woodland Middle School it’s against the rules to have skateboards. There are no exceptions.
Boards cannot be on school property.

Jake's old school in Proctor let them have skateboards; they would just have to leave them at a room when they got to class. The city of Proctor also didn’t have laws stopping people from skating.
Ernest’s new concern for the day is getting home without getting in trouble by the police.

Councilman Greg Gilbert said that as of three years ago, an ordinance was passed because of concerned, elderly, community members. Their concern was that skateboarders could knock them over.

“The ordinance [regarding skateboarding] that passed a few years ago was put in place to ensure that the sidewalks downtown were safe for all,� Gilbert said.

Police Officer Brian Heaslip regards skateboarding as a problem in the downtown area. He sees that in the summer skateboarding becomes a big problem for downtown business owners.
“It’s not the experienced ones that are the problem, it’s the less experienced that we worry about hurting others,� said Heaslip.

To offset the problem he suggests adding a few quality skate parks around the city. He thinks the damage done to public places could be fixed by giving kids a place to skate without being lawbreakers.

Jake has been stopped a couple of times, but it was when he was not on his board.
“The police don’t give you a ticket unless you’re on the board,� He said. “All my friends have gotten them though.�

Those tickets have forced one of his friends to quit skateboarding and just bike.

Not Jake. Not yet.