Skip Navigation | HOME | UK Indymedia | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Support Us

West Country Features | UK Features | West Country Newswire | UK Newswire |

Freedom to skate protest (pics and report)

Simon | 11.03.2006 20:54 | Culture | Free Spaces | Repression

Following a proposal by police to outlaw skateboarding in Swindon town centre, a group of teenagers today held a protest to show their objection to the ban.

Video Very short movie (870kb, 10 seconds) – don’t try this at home! - video/x-ms-wmv 874K

Skater protest - group photo #1
Skater protest - group photo #1

Skater protest - group photo #2
Skater protest - group photo #2

Skate without debate
Skate without debate

Skating is not a crime
Skating is not a crime

It’s not a crime!
It’s not a crime!

Scooter solidarity
Scooter solidarity

Don’t try this at home!
Don’t try this at home!


The proposed ban, which was announced in the Swindon Advertiser on the 22nd February [1], comes in the wake of a series of police measures to counter a perceived problem of groups of youths intimidating people by congregating in groups. Other such measures over the past year have included the ability to forcibly escort home any minors found in the West Swindon Centre and Shaw Ridge Leisure Park after 9pm, and the ability to remove from Theatre Square any group of two or more teenagers who “harass, intimidate, alarm or distress” a member of the public [2].

Between fifteen and twenty youths with skateboards were gathered around the clock at the pedestrianised crossroads of The Parade and Regents Street, along with a journalist and photographer from the Adver, and somewhat unexpectedly, local tory councillor and proposer of the recent anti-ID card council motion [3] Peter Greenhalgh.

While the skaters got themselves organised, promising that the protest signs would arrive soon, the journalist interviewed cllr Greenhalgh. He stated his opposition to the idea of a ban on skateboarding, seeing it as another example of making young people the scapegoat for things they have nothing to do with. He pointed out that if any young people are committing any crimes, there are already plenty of laws under which they can be charged. A ban on skateboarding in town would do nothing to prevent vandalism and the like, but would serve to further alienate young people who are already blamed for much which they have nothing to do with.

As promised, the protest signs arrived, in the form of large sheets of blank white card. Some of the teenagers quickly scrawled slogans on them, such as “skating is not a crime” and “don’t ban sk8ing”, and then the Adver photographer got to work arranging them into photo opportunities. Whilst the photos were being taken, an elderly man riding a motability scooter stopped and posed for a photo holding one of the protest signs, to the delight of the teenagers and the bemusement of onlookers.

With the photo shoot done, the teenagers stayed grouped around the clock tower for a while, holding up their signs, skating around a bit, and in the case of one intrepid youngster, jumping off the top of a statue and landing almost perfectly on his skateboard. Somewhat reckless, I thought, but a very impressive trick all the same.

The proposed skate ban proved unpopular in a poll of Adver readers, with 61% opposing it [4], and it comes across as yet another example of a pointless and draconian restriction with the aim of authorities being seen to be doing something about a perceived problem of gangs of intimidating teenagers. Maybe Tony Blair’s clandestine visit to Swindon in January, to clean some graffiti off a wall in pursuit of his new “respect” agenda [5], has something to do with this. It is interesting to note that new graffiti is quickly removed from “Blair’s wall”, however other graffiti in the area is left untouched [6].

The thing that is missing from this picture is the gangs of intimidating teenagers. Certainly, groups of teenagers are a regular feature of the town centre. It is a place where teenagers have gravitated to for years, to hang out with their friends and meet new friends. I have never found them intimidating though, and have never been knocked flying by any inconsiderate skaters. The young people in town, whether with skateboards or without, are sometimes a minor irritation, but no more so than the families which spread across the entire thoroughfare whilst walking very slowly, or the toddlers that run in random directions without looking where they are going.

If I wanted to be intimidated in Swindon town centre, I’d take a late-evening walk through the unbelievably high density of trendy bars in the Fleet Street area, where a mass of loud drunken people continually stagger from one bar to the next, and one can never be sure whether the shouting is alcohol-fuelled exuberance or a fight about to start.

To put this in perspective, the most intimidated I have felt in recent years is when attending peaceful demonstrations where the police impose arbitrary restrictions under sections 12 and 14 of the public order act [7] [8]. Although to date I have always escaped from these events unscathed, it is decidedly unsettling to be greeted by a police officer handing out leaflets dictating the exact order of the day, on pain of arrest for any deviation, almost as if merely attending a demonstration verges on criminal behaviour.

So, in answer to the question posed by the Adver’s headline on 22nd February, yes, this is a ban too far in my opinion.

Related links

[1] Skater free zone – is this a ban too far?  http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/2006/02/22/263058.html
[2] Police order will prevent teenagers gathering  http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/2005/9/19/249888.html
[3] Swindon Borough Council say no2id  http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/01/332459.html
[4] Don’t put brakes on skateboarders  http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/2006/02/24/263431.html
[5] Respect for PM on flying visit  http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/2006/1/10/258789.html
[6] Worker’s anger at Blair wall treatment  http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/2006/1/27/260423.html
[7] Disruption and Intimidation in Carterton, Oxfordshire  http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/04/309720.html (note the recently added comment, regarding disinformation circulated by the RAF prior to this event)
[8] Anti-vivisection demo, Oxford, 23 July 2005  http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/07/319859.html

Simon

Download this article in pdf format >>

Email this article to someone >>

Submit an addition or make a quick comment on this article >>

Comments

Hide the following 4 comments

cool!

12.03.2006 23:43

really cool. we need more of that stuff on the streets to show how gentrification
is changing cities. well done, keep on.

startx


Ah, hell...

13.03.2006 12:08

Soddit. These kids are sweet. As long as they cause no harm, let them skate. Fuck me, they've little enough to look forward to - let them enjoy being kids for a while.

Bonzo
mail e-mail: bonzo@dogdoodahband.com


Skaters - looking good,being proud.

21.03.2006 08:48

I was in the town centre distributing NO2ID leaflets when dozens of skaters were protesting around and about the millenium clock.
Did I feel intimidated?
Did I see anyone else worried by the skaters?
Did I see any disresepct for others?

No

Did I see a lot of passers by smiling at the skaters?

Yes.

Are we losing a grip on the fine things of life; liberty springing to mind here...

YES.

Lynda


Itimidating, not necessarily

04.06.2008 10:53

"gangs of intimidating teenagers' a weasel phrase to try to alter perception of the subject.
People are allowed to be in public places, mums dads , children, police.
If people feel intimidated it does not mean they have been intimidated.
You cannot ban one person from being in the world just because another person is s timid. That is crazy but it is the situaion we have now. Ordinary law abiding people are being harassed by the busybodies, town planners, social engineers, police, and other troublemakers.

willi


Publish

Publish your news

Do you need help with publishing?

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

Server Appeal

West Country Topics

Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
Indymedia
Migration
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

West Country Actions 2007

West Country Actions 2006

April 2006 No Borders Days of Action
Art and Activism Caravan 2006
Climate Camp 2006
French CPE uprising 2006
G8 Russia 2006
Lebanon War 2006
March 18 Anti War Protest
Mayday 2006
Oaxaca Uprising
Refugee Week 2006
Rossport Solidarity
Transnational Day of Action Against Migration Controls
WSF 2006

West Country Actions 2005

DSEi 2005
G8 2005
WTO Hong Kong 2005

West Country Actions 2004

European Social Forum
FBI Server Seizure
May Day 2004
Venezuela

West Country Actions 2003

Bush 2003
DSEi 2003
Evian G8
May Day 2003
No War F15
Saloniki Prisoner Support
Thessaloniki EU
WSIS 2003

Languages

english

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech