Mom takes daughter to skate park 'full of older boys' — she wasn't prepared for what a 15-year-old told her child
Every child deserves a guiding figure in their lives when pursuing their passion. However, little girls sometimes struggle to find their place in adventure sports, which are often dominated by boys. Jeanean Thomas, a mom to a little girl and a firefighter, shared a post full of gratitude for a teen boy on her X handle, @JeaneanThomas. Thomas addressed how the boy came forward to give her daughter some skateboarding tips.
The mom guessed that the boy was probably 15 years old and she initially did not expect him to act nice after spotting a little girl trying to skate on the ramps. "My daughter has been wanting to skateboard for months. I had to convince her that skateboarding wasn't just for boys. So when we walked up to the skate park and saw that it was full of teenage boys who were smoking and swearing she immediately wanted to turn around and go home," the mom wrote in her post. Just like her daughter, the mom wanted to leave the spot as well. Thomas didn't want her daughter to feel like she was supposed to be scared of anyone in the skate park.
Dear teenage boy at the skate park... pic.twitter.com/78ry5esoTa
— Jeanean Thomas (@JeaneanThomas) October 11, 2015
She wanted to teach her daughter that she could use the ramps just like other skaters in the vicinity. The little girl remarked that the skate park was "full of older boys. So, Thomas reminded her daughter that the park was free for everyone. "She proceeded to go down the ramp despite you and your friends flying past her and grinding rails beside her. She only had two or three runs in before you approached her and said, 'Hey, excuse me,'" Thomas's post continued. She was ready to use her 'mom voice' and drop a reminder to the teenage boy that her daughter was allowed to use the park as much as them. But the teen boy's next words left Thomas speechless.
"I heard you say, 'Your feet are all wrong. Can I help you?' You proceeded to spend almost an hour with my daughter showing her how to balance and steer and she listened to you," the post elaborated. Thomas was surprised to see her daughter paying attention to the teenage boy's instructions and admired how the boy helped her each time she fell from the skateboard. "I even heard you tell her to stay away from the rails so that she wouldn't get hurt. I want you to know that I am proud that you are part of my community and I want to thank you for being kind to my daughter. Even though your friends made fun of you for it, she left with a sense of pride and with the confidence that she can do anything, (all) because of you," Thomas concluded.
What amazes me is skaters gamers and any kind of "boys" type thing world of war craft Airsoft or paintballing it's automatically assumed as we're all going to tell women or girls to leave it 1 we don't care if you want to come to these places in fact it's opposite
— Griffster100 (@griffster272) August 24, 2024
@JeaneanThomas @HACKEY17 @cambridgetimes what a great story! And what a fantastic young man!
— Karen S (@k_grrrl) October 22, 2015
People who came across this post appreciated the teenage boy for voluntarily showing the ropes to a rookie skateboarder. @InSrchofLiberty suggested, "Lovely story, but you should go back and tell him directly. He probably won't see it on X." @ms_ashleybrown mentioned, "I'm so glad she left with a sense of pride. Girls can do anything they want and be anything they want to be. Proud of her!" @OwaTajerQR added, "Wow. I can't believe the insensitivity of those with nothing but negative comments on this story. Glad the boy was sensitive."