Since when did filling skateparks with literal tons of sand become a trend?

During this covid-19 crisis, three skateparks in our nation turn into giant “sand boxes” and two of those skateparks happen to be in Southern California. This idea of taking sand from the beach then transporting it into the park, first hit headlines when the iconic Venice Beach Skatepark was filled. Then the San Clemente parks and recreation department decided to adopt that idea and fill Ralphs Skate Court with 37 tons of sand. 

  It’s one thing to deny skaters access to skateparks by posting trespassing signs and fining them if they proceed to ignore the signs, but to send the message of stealing sand from our beaches and dumping it into our skateparks is absurd and unnecessary.

Venice Beach is a popular destination for advanced skaters to show off their skills to an audience of visitors and locals. There is no doubt that having this park open during this time would violate social distancing orders, which is why it has been allegedly closed. 

  Yes, some daring citizens will disobey trespassing signs, putting themselves at risk of contracting the virus and potentially being fined, but that is enough of a consequence for those skaters who disobey the law. It really is unnecessary to spend the money to fill our skateparks with the sand from our beaches. 

 “It’s just lame because skating for us is like hiking for other people, they could’ve monitored those parks in different ways,” said San Luis Obispo High School junior Sam Stickland. 

  The idea originated in Arizona when officials from Queen Creek filled the Mansel Carter Oasis skatepark with sand. However, this didn’t last long, officials ended up removing the sand when public feedback declared that this was a terrible idea. 

  It’s a shame that Venice Beach and San Clemente officials didn’t learn from this example. Instead they proceeded to turn skateparks into “sand boxes”. 

  San Clemente Skatepark was filled with sand by the city, without even asking the non-profit that manages the skatepark.

“It feels like the city vandalized its own park,” said the leader of the San Clemente Skatepark Coalition Stephanie Agulair.

  Connor Ericcson, creator of Buttery Films, is also fed up with this idea of putting sand into the skatepark. Ericsson and his friends decided to bring mini dirt bikes to the San Clemente skatepark so that they could do some jumps and embrace the sand filled skatepark. After having his own fun he decided to help the local skateboarders dig out the sand so that they could do some “social shredding.” After posting this on social media and incorporating it into his youtube channel, Buttery Films, Ericcson went viral.

“I think it’s a big joke, these kids are cooped up inside their house and just want to go out and have some fun,” said Ericcson.

  Ericcon is right, these kids are being told they need to stay home which is not healthy physically and mentally. While being denied the right to use the skateparks, they see them being abandoned and obstructed. Is that really the message that we want to send to children during this time? No it is not the message we want to be sending, so let’s stop filling our skateparks with sand from our beaches.