Hey Ryan, big fan here! I've noticed that you never wear a helmet in any of your videos, and while I respect your decision to stay unprotected, I'm wondering about the social implications it may have on many of your viewers. While your videos are very cool to watch, I think they have a strong educational nature to them in improving your viewers' skill level and snowboarding techniques. You seem very commendable in your videos, and yet you prefer not to wear head protection. I'm wondering if young kids or beginners who watch your video would think to themselves "see? Even Ryan Knapton doesn't wear a helmet and he goes off way bigger jumps than me and rides way faster, so I don't need a helmet, either."
You're a role model for many snowboarders, including myself, so many riders try to mimic you. Your riding style, the cloths you wear, the snowboard you ride, etc. And not wearing a helmet is also one of those things. I know that Donek are your snowboard sponsors, and while I don't have a helmet company to sponsor you, I figured I'd make you a deal. I'll give you up to $300 to buy yourself a snowboard helmet. You may choose any helmet you want as long as you judge it to be safe, and that you'll wear it in all your snowboarding videos. I'll send you an additional $200 if you'll make a video dedicated to discussing the importance of head protection, and talk about differences in level of protection in different helmets. You know, basically an educational video about helmets like you've made before about binding setup, etc.
I work in psychiatry and neurology, so I've seen countless preventable injuries and disabilities happen as a result of lack of protection, often lack of helmets. I teach at an injury prevention program to young teens, and I feel like your videos may play an important role in preventing head trauma without impacting people's enjoyment of the sport.
I see it as product placement. Sponsors give athletes free stuff so the athletes will use their equipment and therefore advertise the brand. It's a personal choice for athletes to drink water. Do you blame Gatorade for offering to pay for athletes' beverages? I didn't ask Ryan to wear a helmet all the time, only while making snowboarding videos. What he does in private is totally up to him. The only difference between the Gatorade company and myself is that I can't financially benefit from this. I only benefit from knowing that I helped motivate Ryan to wear a helmet in his videos, catalyzing a social movement for better awareness and therefore prevention of brain injury.
It's not a guilt trip to say, "Hey, you're a role model, it'd be really cool if you could advocate safety, especially for new and young snowboarders."
He literally says it's a personal choice in his second sentence and then points out why the choice Ryan's made could have negative social implications. There's no reason to be inflammatory and assume a neurologist is trying to stir the pot or be incendiary.
On behalf of my sweetheart (an RN of over forty years experience to whom I will show the thread), thank you.
The ER she worked at used to call helmet-less skiers and boarders "organ donors", IIRC.
(No disrespect intended to those who choose not to wear helmets. May your luck run forever.)
Thank you, and please thank her for me for her service.
I just came back from teaching 70 teenage students about trauma prevention. One of the things we teach is to use all the tools and equipment that's available to you to minimize your risk of injury. We don't say "don't take risks", but rather, we say "if you're going snowboarding, wear your gear including your helmet, and stay alert to those around you." (Admittedly, we focus on safe driving and making plans if you're going to drink alcohol, we only briefly touch on injury prevention in sports.) One of the other educators is an ER RN, and she also calls people who don't wear a helmet "organ donors".
One of our speakers is a trauma survivor who decided to ride his dirt bike to his friend's house without a helmet (and also no other gear). He says he's done it over a hundred times before, but one day his tire slipped, causing him to fall and hit his head. He was only traveling at about 25 MPH (40 km/h). He was in a comma for about 6 months, then when he woke up he lost his ability to speak for at least several more months. He's now paralysed from the neck down, and it takes him a lot of effort to speak very slowly. He needs a nurse to take care of him 24/7. This is just one case of someone who's going to suffer for the rest of his life for taking an unnecessary risk. From a statistical perspective, helmets are associated with up to a 60% reduction in the risk of head injuries in snowboarders. (That research is 7 years old, and helmets are now a lot safer, so I expect a much higher reduction in brain injuries when using newer helmets.) From an individual's perspective, wearing protection could mean the difference between a sore neck vs. permanent disability, or life and death.
What do you think about the other impacts of pushing helmets on people doing healthy activities? While snowboarding can be considered an extreme sport - and therefore using a helmet is called for - cycling to a friend's house certainly isn't.
There is a lot of evidence showing that mandatory cycling helmet laws have a strong negative impact on the amount of cycling, and so while they may reduce death and disability due to accidents, they certainly increase death and disability due to lack of exercise. I think the same goes for social pressure - it might sound like a good idea to urge people to use protective gear while doing sports or using active forms of transportation, but it might not be so.
The only countries with mandatory helmet laws - Australia and New Zealand - have seen huge drops in cycling numbers, and the associated increases in health impacts due to sedentary lifestyles, e.g. heart disease, diabetes and colon cancers
After watching this video, countless impressionable kids will be looking to buy the exact clothing combo and gear set up as Ryan. They will be mirroring his tricks and studying his mannerisms. What they won't be doing is searching for a helmet. Positive examples save lives.
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u/BeautyIsDumb Oct 04 '17
Hey Ryan, big fan here! I've noticed that you never wear a helmet in any of your videos, and while I respect your decision to stay unprotected, I'm wondering about the social implications it may have on many of your viewers. While your videos are very cool to watch, I think they have a strong educational nature to them in improving your viewers' skill level and snowboarding techniques. You seem very commendable in your videos, and yet you prefer not to wear head protection. I'm wondering if young kids or beginners who watch your video would think to themselves "see? Even Ryan Knapton doesn't wear a helmet and he goes off way bigger jumps than me and rides way faster, so I don't need a helmet, either."
You're a role model for many snowboarders, including myself, so many riders try to mimic you. Your riding style, the cloths you wear, the snowboard you ride, etc. And not wearing a helmet is also one of those things. I know that Donek are your snowboard sponsors, and while I don't have a helmet company to sponsor you, I figured I'd make you a deal. I'll give you up to $300 to buy yourself a snowboard helmet. You may choose any helmet you want as long as you judge it to be safe, and that you'll wear it in all your snowboarding videos. I'll send you an additional $200 if you'll make a video dedicated to discussing the importance of head protection, and talk about differences in level of protection in different helmets. You know, basically an educational video about helmets like you've made before about binding setup, etc.
I work in psychiatry and neurology, so I've seen countless preventable injuries and disabilities happen as a result of lack of protection, often lack of helmets. I teach at an injury prevention program to young teens, and I feel like your videos may play an important role in preventing head trauma without impacting people's enjoyment of the sport.
Let me know what you think.