Heelys

[fklwmn]

*sigh*

I'm sure if you've been to the mall, or Target, or walmart, or... anywhere(!) lately (at least in the US) I am sure you have seen heelys (http://www.heelys.com/). They are tennis shoes with a removeable wheel in the heel and they run $40 - $80. They are EVERYWHERE. You can tell kids are wearing them when you see them do the run-run-run-sliiiiide. Seems like every kid I see when I am out christmas shopping this year is wearing these things.

My kids want these SO BAD. Especially DS1. But they know they are not getting them for Christmas. I have several reasons why I will not buy them. The first is that... I don't pay $40 - $80 for kids' shoes. Heck, the most I have ever spent on a pair of MY shoes is $25. Then there is the fact that I don't think they are particularly safe (they are # 1 on the 2006 most dangerous toy list http://www.toysafety.org/worstToyList.html) and that ties directly into my third (and biggest) reason for refusing to consider buying them: they are ONLY good for skating in inappropriate places.

So... Yesterday was my kids' birthday party. They both came out LOADED, lol. DS1 told me that he wanted to spend his money on Heelys. I told him that it is his birthday money, and I am not going to dictate how he spends it, but I want to make sure he understands that anything he buys will be regulated as I deem appropriate.  I told him that I foresee him with an expensive pair of tennis shoes while I carry the wheels in my purse most of the time b/c he still will not be allowed to skate in places where skating is not appropriate.

He says he will only wear them where it's ok to use them. Where? Target. No, not okay. The Mall. no, still NOT okay. WalMart. Hello? are you NOT getting my point? I told him he could wear them around the neighborhood - WITH a helmet... but he has rollerblades and a skateboard for that. I told him MAYBE at the park - with a helmet. Again, he has rollerblades and a skateboard for that.

It occurs to me that as much as this is a safety issue, it is also an etiquette issue. Every time some kid whizzes past me in the mall on wheels I want to snatch him up and take him back to his mother so she can tell him that the mall is not a skate park. I don't do that, of course, but I am sorely tempted. I thought I would poll my eHellions to see what you have to say on the subject?




For the record, DS1 is now sulking and has decided not to buy the Heelys since he realizes that he'd hardly ever be able to wear them. He wants to spend his money on a skateboard, but I told him to wait until after Christmas in case he gets one as a gift.

[mdatca]

I HATE those things.  I am disabled from having broken my neck a few years back and suffer from chronic pain from nerve damage.  Therefore, sudden motions and jars hurt me badly and put me in a bad way for days.  But it is not apparent from looking at me but that is beside the point.  I have been jammed into quite a few times from kids wearing them in public places.  Another occasion where it was totally inappropiate was at a wake (if any of you remember about my friends tenants and their kids).

 

[Sharnita]

Hate them. Some idiot kid was rolling through McDonald's the other day. By the grace of God he didn't amnage to take out any of the grandparents picking up their daily senior coffeee but if he was my kid it would be the last time he'd see the inside of a fast food joint until he was 18.

[IndianInlaw]

Everytime I see someone scooting through the mall on those I sort of roll my eyes and think "another spoiled kid from the suburbs.

I guess irritating adults is part of the fun.

Just like everything we did  in the late 60's.

[mumofonly1]

I absolutely detest Heelys. I, like you, only seem to see children using them in inappropriate places. Thankfully, my son has no interest in them.

[willow08]

I do not see the reason for these things. I've never seen a child wear or use them responsibly. I HAVE seen 8 to 10yo kids in heely's do the following:

Knock an elderly lady over by rolling past her in the shopping mall and not even stopping to make sure she was OK.

Clutch on the side of their parents' grocery cart, telling Mom to "push faster" so they could be dragged along. This was hard on Mom and the people who were shopping around her as the kid blocked the aisle, knocked items off shelves and bumped into other carts.

Smash into a stroller and nearly dump out the (unrestrained) toddler sitting inside.

[snoopygirl]

I work in a grocery store. I hate those things. I have been almost taken out by somebody using them. The kids will use them in the checkout line. Ugh. I always worry about taking out some of my customers. A lot of my regulars have canes or use wheelchairs. Whenever I see somebody get to close to an elderly person with them ( like the frail elderly couple with canes) I want to yell stop and then say something to the parent for letting them do that in a crowded store.

[baconsmom]

I voted "other": Completely distracting to musicians in church.

Yes, you read that correctly: in church. Some kid had them on last night and came back from Communion on the wheels, causing our pianist/director to stare and forget to sing, which in turn cracked us up (we were in a mood - a good one, but giggling in church still isn't really appropriate), and we were just glad it was Communion and no one was paying attention to us (as it should be.).

[Pixie]

I have seen those things in Walmart, but fortunately the kids I saw wearing them WERE  being considerate of others.   I can see how they could be dangerous, and how easily a child could hurt or just plain annoy someone by wearing them there things.   I have a feeling if I were back in Idaho I would hate them with a passion. The town we lived in there had an over abundance of "permissive"parents who's little Scotty or Suzie never did anything wrong.

So while I can see everyone's points, I have not personally seen them misused. My kids don't have them, mine are accident prone enough without giving them new ways to break bones!  LOL!

[guihong]

I've been nearly mowed over by kids on those things, and they are banned in my kids' school (for good reason).  I wouldn't pay that much for any pair of shoes, on principle.

At least my daughter's current craze-her "crocs"- didn't cost an arm and a leg, and aren't a safety issue.

gui

[fklwmn]

So while I can see everyone's points, I have not personally seen them misused.

One of my points is that skating on them in WalMArt, whether being considerate of others or not, is misuse in and of itself. Walmart is not a skate park. I'm sure if I brought my kids in on rollerblades and let them skate around while I shop, that would be a problem, regardless of how considerate they were being of others. IMO, skating is either permissable, or it's not. and in stores, or the mall... it's not. To me it's the same principal as kids acting as if they are out on the playground when they are in fact, in the mall.

This is a store. This is how we act in the store. That is the playground. This is how we act on the playground. There is they skatepark. This is how we act at the skatepark...

[avonlea29]

I guess I don't see the big deal. I'd wear them. lol I work in the mall and have NEVER seen anyone whizing around, just kinda rolling a bit here and there. And never seen anyone hurt by them. Heck, I get far more annoyed by oblivious adults. Some of the stroller moms are the worst. We actually have a group of maybe 12 women with strollers in one mall here who JOG the mall in their workout clothes and then lay out their mats and do their yoga together! @@ In the MALL!! Sheesh!

~ Christina

[fklwmn]

I guess I don't see the big deal. I'd wear them. lol I work in the mall and have NEVER seen anyone whizing around, just kinda rolling a bit here and there. And never seen anyone hurt by them. Heck, I get far more annoyed by oblivious adults. Some of the stroller moms are the worst. We actually have a group of maybe 12 women with strollers in one mall here who JOG the mall in their workout clothes and then lay out their mats and do their yoga together! @@ In the MALL!! Sheesh!

~ Christina

are you sure that's not something organized or at least sanctioned by the mall management? Our mall does this in the mornings during the week. They figure they moms in there to work out, then they will AT LEAST hang out and eat lunch in the food court. And maybe do some shopping while they are there, instead of stopping @ Target or WalMart some other time.

[Chartreuse]

My polling place for voting is at a local elementary school.  They had the voting all set up in the gym area, and it was a bit crowded.  A few ladies showed up to vote with their kids in tow.  The one family had two kids with them who had Heelys.  While the kids skated around the basketball court area, generally avoiding the line and voters, it was about a half hour before the school administration sent somebody in to tell the family to knock it off.  I guess the liability issues and potential floor damage didn't occur to the kids or mother.

I hate those things.  Seriously, they're a lawsuit waiting to happen in most locations, most kids are irresponsible and don't pay enough attention indoors to be skating around, etc.

[avonlea29]

are you sure that's not something organized or at least sanctioned by the mall management? Our mall does this in the mornings during the week. They figure they moms in there to work out, then they will AT LEAST hang out and eat lunch in the food court. And maybe do some shopping while they are there, instead of stopping @ Target or WalMart some other time.

I doubt mall management sanctions women with strollers sprinting through the mall 12 abreast. My sister said they almost mowed her over! They were literally running.