jamiecebmx

Age in different Communities

In a lot of communities age has a lot to do with how you are treated. There are certain exceptions for how people of certain ages should act. In most communities, if you’re a teenager you’re supposed to be immature, and make mistakes, and adults are supposed to have all their shit together and be responsible and “grown up”. This of course has lots of exceptions; a lot of adults are not at all responsible or do not act grown up and vice versa. Also as a teenager you’re supposed to respect your elders, not talk down to them, do what they tell you, etc. For example, if you are a 17 year old kid who walks into an auto parts store, they assume that you don’t know what you’re talking about. Of course if you walk up and ask them if they can get you a distributor cap for a 95 vw and know all the answers to any questions they have, their original opinion about you based on how you look may be changed. But for the most part they will assume, based on how you look and your age, that you do not know much.

But not all communities are like this. A specific example that I have a lot of experience with is the BMX community. People of all ages and skill levels ride BMX and just because you are older doesn’t mean that you are better.

I have spent a lot of my life in this community and of course a 10 year old kid and a 35 year old man are not treated the same. But in my experience there is a lot less emphasis on age. In most communities adults are supposed to be more respected and know more than younger kids. In BMX this is still true to some extent, you are still more polite, but your skill and attitude have a lot to do with it too. I started riding when I was really young, and of course I wasn’t very good when I started. And I would look up to the riders that I could learn from.

When you go to a skatepark there are always a few riders who are the best at riding in the park, and everybody looks up to them because they know the most, and are the most experienced at riding. Along with being looked up to there is a respect that goes along with it. Those riders most of the time are the riders who have put the most time into learning to ride and are the most dedicated to what they are doing. This changes the social hierarchy, turning the focus away from age and focusing it more on the person’s dedication, determination and attitude. I have experienced both sides of this skatepark situation. When I was little I used to go to the skatepark and I was one of the worst riders there. I would look up to all the better riders hoping one day I would be as good as them. Over many years, my dedication and practice paid off and now a lot of the time when I go to the skatepark I am among the better riders there. I am only 18, on the younger side of the riders at the park.

Being one of the better riders means that sometimes other riders will ask you tips on different tricks they are trying to learn. I’ve had 10 year old kids ask me for tips and 30 year old men ask me for tips. I think that shows what I am trying to say: that age is not as present in all communities. Age still has a presence in the BMX community, but there is a lot less emphasis on it and more on dedication, knowledge, and attitude.

In most communities using age to determine someone’s social position makes sense, the older you are the more you have experienced, and you’ve had more opportunities to learn. But in BMX a community based around biking it has less to do with overall experience and more to do with the experience of the shared love.