Being a skateboarding legend, video game character, company ceo, and public skatepark defender doesn’t exempt you from being an arsehole. Or a bad parent for that matter, and that’s just what Tony Hawk has been accused of after instagramming photos of himself and his daughter skateboarding helmet-less in his private backyard skatepark!
So Tony Hawk has a skatepark in his backyard? Well that’s certainly a tick in the good parenting column, if only to ensure his kids have the coolest house on the block. It’s also a fun and practical way to ensure his children spend time outside doing exercise, so he gets bonus marks for that in the age of the childhood obesity epidemic.
The controversy is centred on the pictures bellow, where Hawk is seen zipping around with his barefoot helmet-less 4 year-old daughter. As a self-professed uncoordinated buffoon, I gotta admit, my first reaction was “oooh, that’s a little dangerous.” But then you have to remember that this dude invented the 900. He launches himself 10 storeys into the air from big-ass vert jumps for a living. Going to work means getting on a skateboard, and having been a pro for 30 years, I’d think it fair to trust his personal risk assessment of a situation – especially when it involves his child.
Twitter users were quick to slam the 44 year-old skateboarding legend.
“Helmets? Who needs helmets? Accidents NEVER happen and superstars never
fall down. It’s a one in a million hot if she falls and cracks her
skull. Nothing a little duct tape won’t hold together. #helmetsafety.”
fall down. It’s a one in a million hot if she falls and cracks her
skull. Nothing a little duct tape won’t hold together. #helmetsafety.”
