Skateboarding Subculture

Skateboarding as a sport Another important discussion is whether skateboarding can be considered a subculture more than a sports activity wherein different subculture participate. As shown in some of the reports in the state of the art (Johns 2011; Van der Rijt et al. 2002) skaters were not significantly more involved in marijuana use than other cultures, but as Nielsen and co. found it is possible that participating in several subcultures that acknowledge a particular behavior make the individual more likely to get involved as well. In that case it is possible that members of other subcultures, such as hip-hoppers who were shown to be significantly more involved in marijuana use (Van der Rijt et al. 2002), could be bringing marijuana use
into the skateboarding areas. If that is the case it is still a possible explanation that skateparks are located in places where it is possible to avoid a guardian, which makes smoking in such an area feel less risky for the individual. Skateboarding as an activity could also explain why the researchers have different findings on the topic of marijuana use among skateboarders, as the other group relationships of the adolescents could influence their involvement in marijuana use. In this situation sub-cultural affiliation as Pedersen mentioned could explain why some skaters are more likely to be involved in marijuana use than others. In the case of hip-hoppers, it is possible that some of them see skateboarding as a legitimate sport, and being good at it may be a source of subcultural capital, which is why they participate in skateboarding.

If skateboarding is to be considered mainly a sport rather than an activity with a sub-cultural group build around it, it is possible that some of the attraction skateboarding has on other subcultures could be explained by the potential lawbreaking elements of the sport as mentioned earlier.