Share

Skateboarding

This Heartwarming Letter From A Mum To Teenage Boy Skaters Is The Best Thing We’ve Read All Week

It's not what you might think...

Photo: Jeanean Thomas

I remember being an 11 year-old girl and feeling totally intimidated of the guys at my local skate park. It put me off going.

That’s exactly what Jeanean Thomas’ daughter felt like when she approached her local skate park. But something truly remarkable happened.

Jeanean wrote an open letter on Twitter to the teenage boys in this particular skate park in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. Guaranteed to warm even the coldest corners of your heart.

It just goes to show you should never judge folk on their appearances. Here’s hoping we see more of this in skate parks!

The letter said:

“You’re probably about 15 years old, so I don’t expect you to be very mature or for you to want a little girl on your skate ramp for that matter.

What you don’t know is that my daughter has been wanting to skateboard for months. I actually had to convince her that skateboarding wasn’t for just for boys.

So when we walked up to the skate park and saw that it was full of teenaged boys who were smoking and swearing, she immediately wanted to turn around and go home.

I secretly wanted to go too because I didn’t want to have to put on my mom voice and exchange words with you.

I also didn’t want my daughter to feel like she had to be scared of anyone, or that she wasn’t entitled to that skate park just as much as you were.

So when she said, “Mom it’s full of older boys,” I calmly said, “So what, they don’t own the skate park.”

She proceeded to go down the ramp in spite of you and your friends flying past her and grinding rails beside her.

She only had two or three runs in before you approached her and said “Hey, excuse me …”

I immediately prepared to deliver my “She’s allowed to use this park just as much as you guys” speech when I heard you say,

“Your feet are wrong. Can I help you?”

You proceeded to spend almost an hour with my daughter showing her how to balance and steer, and she listened to you – a feat not attained by most adults.

You held her hand and helped her get up when she fell down and I even heard you tell her to stay away from the rails so that she wouldn’t get hurt.

I want you to know that I am proud that you are part of my community, and I want to thank you for being kind to my daughter, even though your friends made fun of you for it.

She left the skate park with a sense of pride and with the confidence that she can do anything, because of you.”

Jeanean Thomas
Cambridge, Ontario

Share

Newsletter Terms & Conditions

Please enter your email so we can keep you updated with news, features and the latest offers. If you are not interested you can unsubscribe at any time. We will never sell your data and you'll only get messages from us and our partners whose products and services we think you'll enjoy.

Read our full Privacy Policy as well as Terms & Conditions.

production