Skateboarding should be banned

Contention 1: Skateboarding causes vandalism -> kids vandalize anyway -> vandalism specific to skateboarding can be avoided by banning it My first contention is rather tangented and anecdotal, so I will concede most of it. I wanted to create a backdrop for the issue and explain my perspective. On to a more logical version of the first contention: Shop-owners paying out of pocket costs to fix rails and such that vandal skateboarders have damaged is troublesome. This does support your argument, however your argument was not refined enough to withstand scrutiny. Your thesis is simply: "Skateboarding should be banned". It does not read "Skateboarding should be banned on city streets", or "skateboarding should be banned on private property", or anything else that would be more specific and logically sound. Your definition, as broad as it is (you may not have intended it to be), would ban me from skateboarding in my own driveway. It would ban me from being able to open a skateboard park where the activity could be enjoyed without much concern at all. Here is an even more exotic example. I take a piece of wood, and put four wheels on it (the apparatus resembles a skateboard, for the most part). I stand on top of it. Should I be fined if the apparatus starts to roll? It's a pretty silly example... However the fact that a silly example is extrapolated from your idea "skateboarding should be banned" means that the idea itself is essentially silly. Contention 2: Skateboarding is dangerous -> slippery slope -> base jumping ban is justified, so it is not slippery slope Base jumping and elevator surfing have less injuries than skateboarding, but are illegal. Therefore, skateboarding should be illegal. You are making about as bad a statistical fallacy as any person could hope to make. You have two VERY big problems with this argument: A) Base jumping and elevator surfing have less deaths than skateboarding. OK, that shouldn't surprise anyone. I bet brushing your teeth has more deaths than these activities as well, because almost NO ONE does them. I haven't ever even heard of elevator surfing before. If you mentioned activities that a sizable amount of people do, like rollerblading, bicycling, skiing, etc., and then compared it to those, you would have a point. In fact, a very good argument would have been to compare deaths of skateboarders to deaths of users of one of those activities, and you would have had a solid point. The fact that you didn't means that you were avoiding something. Since you didn't, allow me: "700 bicyclists died on US roads in 2007. Over 90 percent died in crashes with motor vehicles (Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute)". "On average 2006 had nearly one person killed per week while skateboarding; a total of 42 skateboarding youth died while recreating. Of these 42 deaths, 40 occurred outside of skateparks." This last one comes from a skateboarding website, which isn't that reputable, but the statistic they used was from the Skaters for Public Skateparks, which is... slightly more reputable :). I googled these and took the very first statistic I found for each; I didn't keep searching to find stats that helped me out. The years aren't exactly the same, but given the vastly larger amount of bicycling injuries, the relevance of that is minimal. So. Bicyclers die more than 15 times as much as skateboarders. Furthermore, the quote includes a reference to skateparks, and how that 42 would have only been two if we only counted skateparks. Even if you hadn't forfeited your second round, it is difficult to believe you could have formulated an argument to defend banning skateboarding in skateparks (which your resolution clearly includes) given only 2 deaths a year. B) Base jumping and elevator surfing are inherently deadly. Skateboarding is not. If I go skateboarding today, I can enjoy it safely with little to no chance of being hurt. If I go base jumping today, or elevator surfing, there is a huge chance I will be dead. In fact, I would be too scared to try them (that is an incredible understatement). The difference lies in the concept of potential energy. Potential energy of a person on a skateboard ~ 0. Potential energy of a person on top of a building or elevator (the former being the gravitational potential energy, the latter being both from the motor of the elevator and gravity) ~ LOTS OF ENERGY. The only reason anyone gets hurt with the skateboard is because they push it. Much like a hammer is not deadly, but if I go nuts I can kill myself with it. Your logic would be like comparing a hammer to a hand grenade based on some dubious statistic that hammers are involved in more deaths than handgrenades. Contention 3: Pro: "And if we stand idly by while skateboarders continue to make our roads unsafe, then we have forsaken our greatest belief as Americans." WOW. This kid has a future as a politician :) Contention 4: Pro: "My opponent's next point regarded an un-cited, opinionated statement claiming that Skateboarding is "generally" a positive activity." Again, WOW. Let me check some peer-reviewed journals, backed with scientific studies, endorsed by at least 2 Nobel prize winners that skateboarding is generally a positive activity. Let's see... It is a form of exercise, in a nation that is becoming more and more morbidly obese every year. It is a source of good, clean fun. It can be abused, of course, but is there a single thing on this planet that can't be abused? It is a great hobby. I personally can't do it, but I really admire those who can. I try to snowboard, and I can't, and I wish I did a lot more skateboarding when I was younger because now I can't even go faster than 2 mph on my snowboard and I spent $500 on snowboarding equipment 3 years ago that hasn't got more than 5 or 6 days of usage since I got them. Asking for citations and calling me opinionated on this matter can only be an act of desperation... "And upon searching for a while, I found out that it is also illegal in most of New York and DC". It would have been nice for you to post your citation here, since you obviously had it right in front of you when you wrote that (while we are on the subject of citations) but I will assume you are 100% correct since a quick Google search indicates there are in fact skateboarding bans active in certain places and we don't have to cut hairs here. Again, a flat ban on skateboarding is ridiculous. Does this ban include skate parks? Does it include your private property? With no reference to your data and no third round to synthesize the information (due to your forfeit) we really can't settle this. Again, I find it ridiculous that a skatepark would be banned from opening up due to your data, since there is no chance for vandalism and little chance for injury. A flat ban would prohibit both skateparks and private property skating which is simply ridiculous. Contention 5: damage to skateboard manufacturers "Though banning skating may hurt them a little bit, it's not going to make that much of a difference". Well this is only hypothetical so neither of us is going to produce hard data, but I would not agree that a ban on skateboarding would only hurt skateboard manufacturers "a little bit" just because they can make surf boards or other things. Contention 6: I concede this contention; not necessary to make my argument. Contention 7: diversity. Not addressed by Pro at all. Although I will admit it was my weakest point :) Contention 8: enforcement. Pro addressed this generally (my arguments were kind of silly anyway). I made contentions 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 simply to overwhelm Pro with contentions, and since he at least attempted to make rebuttals to most of them I will concede them. 1) http://www.bhsi.org... 2) http://www.silverfishlongboarding.com... (To see the article, google "skateboarding deaths" and hit the very first link. I couldn't get the final link to work after pasting it).