The new skate bowl at the Burton Adventure Recreation Center, overseen by the Vashon Park District, certainly will provide lots of fun and exercise for many kids (“Bowl of fun,” Jan. 21). The front-page picture in The Beachcomber of a 24-year-old boarder showed him without a helmet, while young, 8-year-old Evan Kruse watched wearing his helmet. Kids must follow 8-year-old Evan and wear protective gear when skateboarding. I hope the park district will have rules for the use of helmets and other protective gear when using the new skate park.

It is well documented that the most common injury sustained on a bike or a skateboard is a head injury. The American Academy of Pediatrics reports that each year in the United States, skateboard injuries cause about 50,000 visits to emergency departments with 1,500 children and adolescents hospitalized, mostly for head injuries (source: AAP, March 2002.) A study in the New England Journal of Medicine done at Harborview Medical Center and Group Health showed that helmets for young bicyclists reduce the risk of head injury by 85 percent and severe brain injury by 88 percent.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that every skateboarder should wear standard safety gear. This includes a helmet, wrist guards, elbow and knee pads and appropriate shoes.

The evidence is quite clear. Helmets prevent severe disability and death. They should be worn.

The dark humor of emergency room personnel: “Question: What do you call a biker or skateboarder without a helmet? Answer: an organ donor.”

— Hugh Straley, MD