How Do I Get My Daughter to Wear Wrist Gaurds While Rollerblading?

* suspect written by a kid.

I have kids who have been skateboarders (doing tricks) and who regularly bike, etc. They all have worn the protective gear i.e. helmets. Even older teens at skateboard parks wear helmets here (considered required gear).

If she uses them to get to school, how are her friends lending her theirs? Why do you give in?

For us, it's non-negotiable. I would never let my kids do anything unsafe like not using a helmet.

ETA - I don't know about wrist guards - but thinking she can cover with hoodie if necessary, although none of my kids have ever worn them while playing sports.

A helmet is way more important in my book that wrist guards. I don't get your thought process on that.

Just because you broke your wrist does not mean she will. If she does, then she will face the consequence. I'd much rather deal with a broken wrist than a head injury that could be deadly.

You either care about her safety and stand your ground, or you don't.

If you can't insist on safety precautions now, what's your plan when she gets a learner's permit or driver's license? Or when she wants to go to a party where there are no parents around? Or anything else?

You admit the problem: you give in. If she defies you, you make it tougher for her. Instead, you show her that your arguments aren't anything you believe in. If you can't face the horror of your daughter not going to school, you miss the point - she has to have consequences that matter. Not getting to school because the only way to do that is to skate makes zero sense. Let her miss school and have to say to the principal, "I'm 13 and I'm so stubborn that I wouldn't do what my mother told me, because I think having my own way is more important than educating my mind and following the law." I'd love to be a fly on the wall for that one. It's exactly what I told my 8 year old when he didn't want to get ready for school - and I never heard him argue about it again.

I don't understand why you require wrist guards only. A wrist can be broken and it can heal. I gather from your post that you don't require a helmet. So, just because you broke a wrist, you've decided that's the only body part you care about? Obviously, safety statistics mean nothing to you. Head injuries mean nothing to you. So it's quite possible that such an irrational position makes your daughter question everything. It would help if you used more judgment.

This almost sounds like a bored teen on vacation rather than a parent who has perspective. Maybe you didn't provide more of the story that would be relevant, but otherwise, if this is your parenting style, I think you're in for a tough time with a rebellious kid who knows she's in charge.

Take them away and if she borrows someone else's ground her. You are the parent she is the child. And I agree with that others that said you should require more than just wrist guards. A helmet is more important in my opinion. Broken wrist hear and can be cast but a fractured skull can ruin and possibly end a life.

you know, i didn't 'try' to take things away from my kids. if they didn't want to abide by our rules, they didn't do the activity. period. wishy-washing about and then 'giving in' is the problem here.

you CAN'T get your daughter to wear wrist guards because you can't make a decision and stand by it.

i expect your teen years with your daughter will descend into chaos with this sort of parental philosophy.

ETA i didn't even pick up on the no-helmet until i read the other responses. now i'm trying to wrap my head around the logic that her head is safe because you never hurt yours, but her wrists are risk because you broke yours.

khairete
S.

Perhaps you haven't explained the rule about safety, and the consequences, clearly enough. The reason for safety equipment while using ANY form of transportation (seatbelts in cars, helmets while on bikes, rollerblades or scooters), etc, should not necessarily be "because I got hurt". That really doesn't make much of an impact on teens, who often think they're smarter/quicker/better than their parents at pretty much anything. Of course, a parent who suffered an injury as a child or teen can often add a personal note to the rule, but that's not the whole story.

Instead, you should sit down with your daughter and explain that safety is important, in and of itself. In a couple of years, she'll be old enough for a learner's permit, and you (hopefully) will require that she wear seatbelts, doesn't drive distracted, never texts while driving, etc. But now, her mode of transportation is skates. And while on skates, on any surface, a smart and careful person wears a helmet. It doesn't mean the skater is not skilled. It means there are careless drivers out there who strike innocent victims, it means a skater can encounter a pothole, a kitten that runs out in front of her, a gust of wind, a child, etc, and can lose her balance. And the head will go down hard.

Your focus is off. You're letting her brain and skull go totally unprotected (and believe me, they're a lot harder to repair than a wrist), and you're insisting on wrist guards because you broke your wrist, and you give in rather than insist on a clearly communicated rule. Will you give in when she's driving, and let her text, and let her pile 6 girl friends in her car, sitting on each other's laps without seatbelts? I mean, giving in would be easier, right? She got to school, right? I hope you see the connection.

If she has to go to school, which of course she does, and if she takes off on rollerblades without a helmet, or borrows a friend's skates after you've confiscated hers, you drive her to school, which is WAY less cool. And you ground her and make her stay at home doing chores if she won't obey a simple safety rule.

But you make the rule clear, you tell her you've been slacking off from enforcing a rule, you establish the consequences, and then you FOLLOW THROUGH on your word. Or else you're going to end up with an injured child, or a careless driver, and a teen who knows that you'll just give in. Don't make the rule about your past incidents. Make it about your child's future.

Much like the question about the three year old jumping on the bed, the big problem is not lack of wristguards. The big problem is that your child sees your rules as optional. This is something you want to deal with now because the issues only get bigger as she gets into her teens.

You have to stop giving in and take them away if she won't follow your rules. If that means that she has to walk to school and it takes twice as long, well, those are the consequences of her actions. And if she breaks your rules by borrowing from a friend, then maybe she will have to take a break from hanging out with that friend until your daughter proves that she is trustworthy.

We have a little ski hill in our town and our kids grew up skiing. This year for the first time at age 14 our son didn't want to wear his helmet. He sneakily hid it under the table with our stuff and went skiing without it which I didn't realize. When he got back I told him it is non negotiable and if he wants to ski he HAS to wear his helmet. He does not have a choice. A few adult friends came up to him and told him he has to wear a helmet or else he risks brain damage. He still didn't want to give in. I kept telling him nope, you can't ski unless you wear a helmet and I asked him why he doesn't want to wear one. His helmet feels too tight. We went online and looked at the helmets and we found one that came in adult male Large size that he thought looked very cool and I ordered it. My advice is to tell her she has to or she can't rollerblade. If she lies and does it behind your back then she gets punished/grounded. Ask her why she doesn't want to wear them. See if there is something she doesn't like about them that you can fix. Good luck.

This isn't a hill I'd die on. Hopefully she wears a helmet - that's really all she needs. Just because you managed to injure yourself doesn't mean that she will. And if she does, a broken wrist isn't that big of a deal. Wrist guards aren't going to protect from the types of injuries that are serious.

I don’t understand why you think wrists are more important than her brain. You’ve let her do this sport without the proper respect for her body (no helmet) all this time. Why are you surprised that she won’t listen?

Too little too late. Hope you both dodge a bullet in her getting hurt.

It looks like your daughter is not able to learn through your experience.
She figures it can't happen to her - most kids are like this, sometimes into their mid 20s.
They think they are immortal.
At this point if she's been skating for years without protection (and it looks like you did too until you had your mishap last fall) it's probably not going to be something you can force her to do now.
If she ever gets hurt then maybe she can learn from that.

I would let it go. So do not force the wrist guards. If she happens to fall and happens to break her wrist then you can remind her that she refused safety gear and now has consequences from that. But as someone who rollerbladed for fun for several hours every week and never got hurt I wouldn't push anything other than a helmet if she will be near moving cars.

Updated

I would let it go. So do not force the wrist guards. If she happens to fall and happens to break her wrist then you can remind her that she refused safety gear and now has consequences from that. But as someone who rollerbladed for fun for several hours every week and never got hurt I wouldn't push anything other than a helmet if she will be near moving cars.

Unless you're with her 100 percent of the time when she's rollerblading, you can't. I remember pushing, lecturing, and trying to require wrist guards when my older daughter was the same age beginning to snowboard, since her school highly recommended them. I always make her take them, but I'm pretty sure they never left her bag once she got to the ski hill with her school group, even though she was warned about the real risk of broken wrists. Your daughter could put the wrist guards on at home and take them off one she was a block away from your house, if she really wants to. It's frustrating. Make them available for to her. Share your concerns. Ask that she use them. I don't think I would take the rollerblades away from her, but if you see is blatantly disregarding a safety issue, I wouldn't enable/encourage it any further by buying any new rollerblades or going out of your way to provide opportunities for her to use them, or maybe say no to further requests for activities as she isn't taking your advised precautions seriously

I've been rollerblading since I was 10, 25 years. I wore wrist guards maybe for the 1st month. I've never broken a bone and fell only a handful of times in the beginning. I trip more on my own feet. You aren't going that fast. I feel like they are safer than riding a bike. Unless you hit sand or loose gravel, you are ok.