Rollershoes: Innocent Toy or Serious Threat? “Whooooosh,” went a rush of air behind me, as a young child flew by on invisible wheels, barely missing me and an old couple walking nearby. I was at the mall on the weekend, and encountering, not for the first time, one of the favorite pastimes of Doha’s youth: rollershoes. This innocent-seeming footwear has exploded onto Qatar’s recreational scene; it has become virtually impossible to venture out to a shopping center without being surrounded by legions of fun-seeking kids propelling themselves around at unnatural speeds on wheeled feet. It is absolutely necessary that a policy be introduced to ban (or at least restrict) the use of rollershoes …show more content…
Any responsible adult who has learned to rollerblade or ride a skateboard knows that it is very difficult in the beginning, and requires the use of proper protective equipment, such as elbow and knee pads. The children who wear rollershoes in the malls rarely wear any such protection, so they risk serious bodily injury with each new glide. It is a well-known fact that children lack the sense of accountability and forethought that allows adults to operate dangerous equipment (indeed, this is why there is a minimum required age for obtaining a driver’s license). Children are also well-known for their overdeveloped hunger for adventure, which often translates into the tendency to take outrageous risks – so why allow them to arm themselves with such a perfect mechanism for self-injury? Because children lack the maturity to make responsible decisions about what they will do with their lives, it is necessary for these decisions to be imposed on them by more prudent …show more content…
They present unreasonable danger to the children who wear them and to the other people walking around; also, they cause an unwelcome headache to stressed individuals trying to unwind. If we allow kids to continue to glide around lawlessly on these destructive little shoes, what will be next? Personal mini-airplanes for kids in the parks? Lions and tigers as pets? We must create responsible regulations for rollershoes, so that Doha’s kids and adults can continue to enjoy their leisure time safely and