Skate to Fight

Let's get a little conversation going: What are the five flat ground tricks every skateboarder should know?

I see new people liking this page almost every day. I wish I could do more than share a picture of a cowboy with a quote, but just know that you matter and that it's OK to slow down and take time for yourself. Wish you all well!

We already knew it but here's an interesting read!

USC Study Claims That Skateboarding Improves Mental Health Funded by the Tony Hawk Foundation, the study surveyed 5,000 skaters.

has been finishing off the designs on some product coming out in the near future. Here’s an ultra close up on one of his designs. What could it be? 😮

has been hard at work designing some potential new logos for us to start throwing on stickers and t-shirts in the near future. Here are a few of his sketches, we’re excited to see some finished designs soon!

@ Utah State University

And sometimes you dont stop hurting right away
And the stinging feeling of grief lingers on.
Sometimes you just adjust and it becomes your new normal.

Time doesn’t always heal everything.
But youre beautiful
And youre human
And youre as good as it gets.
So its okay.

let yourself stay for a while in that grief.
And let your time there heal you.

It’s okay to not be okay.
Because one day you will be okay.

📸

Here’s a fantastic article on the discussions on s*xual violence we need to be having with our younger generations, particularly young men, and why it matters.

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"Those who want to talk to me alone wait until the last student leaves the auditorium or track me down in the library office, where I’m eating lunch. A few have been victims of s*xual violence themselves. Many more have been targeted by bullies at school. Others come for advice about situations they don’t know how to deal with.

We sit in a quiet corner. The boy, sweating, fidgeting, eyes downcast, tells me his story. Sometimes he tells of a girl, a friend who has been r***d. He wants to know the best way to help her because since it happened, she has been cutting herself, skipping school and getting high to avoid the pain. He wants to kill the boy who hurt his friend. He wants to help and doesn’t know how.

And then there are the half-confessions. No boy has ever come out and admitted to me that he r***d someone, but a few have said, “I might have pushed things too far,” or “Well, we were drunk,” or “Things got out of hand and… she refused to talk to me after that night.” They don’t look me in the eye as they say this. They are not proud of themselves. Their confused shame is heart-breaking and infuriating.

After my auditorium presentation, I typically visit a few classes for smaller group discussions about the themes of my book. In schools all over the country, in every demographic group imaginable, for 20 years, teenage boys have told me the same thing about the r**e victim in Speak: They don’t believe that she was actually r***d. They argue that she drank beer, she danced with her attacker and, therefore, she wanted s*x. They see his violence as a reasonable outcome. Many of them have clearly been in the same situation.

They say this openly. They are not ashamed; they are ill-informed. These boys have been raised to believe that a ra**st is a bad guy in the bushes with a gun. They aren’t that guy, they figure, so they can’t be ra**sts.

Why should they think otherwise? Their parents generally limit conversations about s*x to “don’t get her pregnant” lectures. They learn about s*x from friends, and from internet p**n, where scenes of non-consensual s*x abound. No one has ever explained the laws to them. They don’t understand that consent needs to be informed, enthusiastic, sober, ongoing and freely given.

This is only made worse by the other question I get most often from these teenage boys in the classroom: Why was the r**e victim so upset? They explain, The s*x only took a couple minutes, but she’s depressed for, like, a year. They don’t understand the impact of r**e.

When a boy says these things, the girls in the class are shocked, and the teacher is appalled. They are stunned to discover how many of the guys don’t have a clue. So was I, at first. But I quickly learned that reacting with anger and judgment did not help anyone. Instead, I discuss the studies that show that 94% of women who are r***d experience PTSD symptoms. Nearly a third of victims still have those symptoms 9 months after the r**e, and 13% of women who are r***d attempt su***de. Facts like that make an impact. I share resources like the R**e, Abuse & In**st National Network (RAINN) website with the teacher, and encourage the staff to follow up my visit with presentations from mental health professionals and police officers.

After my recent visit to a school in California, a teacher told me that a boy came up to her after my presentation and said, “This is the kind of stuff we need to know, Miss.”

The empathetic boys searching for ways to help survivors and the boys who believe that r**e only counts if it is committed by an armed stranger have more in common than you’d think. They struggle in the absence of information. They are looking for leadership and models of behavior. They share a desire to learn more.

Teenage boys are hungry for practical conversations about s*x. They want to know the rules. They want to be the good guy, the stand-up, honorable dude. Their intentions might be good, but their ignorance is dangerous. Our society has begun talking a bit more openly about these issues, but that doesn’t mean teenage boys suddenly have all the information they need."

I’ve Talked With Teenage Boys About Sexual Assault for 20 Years. This Is What They Still Don’t Know Author Laurie Halse Anderson shares her insights into what we aren't telling our boys

my hardest tissue
was acting so tough
like brittle sugar
and most tender to the touch
biting back with hard force
because it forgot all this time
how not to protect
all the hard tissues
living barely breathing
let down guards
under our soft thumbs gaze
with receptors that say it's ok
it’s okay
to let
the hard
be the hardest
for moments long enough
that the stories can be felt

My emotions seem to wildly bounce off of everything I touch and I’m pinned as being overly sensitive but, I don’t take that as much of a bad thing anymore. When I allowed myself to okay with it, my world changed because I was able to work with it to my advantage. It allowed me to be vulnerable and share with others and, ultimately write here and on my personal page about mental health. It helped me created lifelong friendships that were built off of selflessness on both ends. It has also allowed me to be a better person to others daily. However, it was something in the past that led to anxiety and feeling out of place far too often. Embrace the softness, the weirdness, and all of the vulnerable parts that make you, you. The best compliment I have ever received was that I have allowed someone to embrace that quality in themselves by honoring that quality in myself.

Love,
Zoey

As I was writing this, I wanted to begin with saying that I’m sorry for our absence but I won’t.
As a neurodivergent person, I have noticed that I apologize far too often and most of the time no apology is needed.
But it’s not that we aren’t sorry, we are.
I feel bad for neglecting the platform my friend allowed me to help moderate.
But, you know what?
I couldn’t at the time.
We couldn’t at the time.
I poured every bit of energy into surviving and sometimes that is all I am capable of doing. Anything else becomes overwhelming and, even things that were once second nature become difficult.
There is no reason to be sorry for not being able to put more on your plate.
I do want to say that we try our best and that we will continue to do our best for you.
Know that you are never alone and know that we are always here for you to reach out to.
I always have time to listen and give you a big ol hug
❤️❤️❤️
love, Zoey .n.skate
📸

James here. I just wanted to share a few of my personal thoughts.

I have not been involved in for a while but I still get notifications because I am still an admin on the page. I still see new likes for the page every couple of days which reminded me that there are still people out there that need help and are looking for it. I wish I could put the time I used to into but that is just not possible. But I can at least let you all know that I am still here to be a listening ear and this is still a place to share your story and build a support network.
I honestly don't skate anymore but the years I spent skating shaped me into the person I am today and I look at my scarred knees and elbows with a feeling of gratitude. As silly as it sounds, if it were not for those scars, I don't know where I would be now.
I just hope I can still be helpful in some way. Don't hesitate to contact me. I may not know much, but I can at least listen.