No one would ever say that baseball players should be restricted to the park, and yet I can say from experience that a baseball to the face doesn’t exactly tickle. When I wrote this, the poll indicated that 30 percent of voters believe skateboarding should be restricted to parks. That’s fine, as long as runners stay on tracks and bikers stick to designated bike paths and venture no further.

Notice the wording of the question: “Should skateboarding be a crime?” A crime. Should skateboarders be cited and hauled off to jail? It may not be your sport, your hobby or even your viewing pleasure, but it is someone’s. If skateboarding is a crime, football should be punishable by death. That’s harsh, but that’s exactly the level of ridiculousness felt by skateboarders by such a question. If you feel like skateboarding is a crime, go down to the skatepark and watch for 20 minutes. Then walk Main Avenue and watch the skaters stroll by. Do those really look like punishable crimes?

Franklin Harvey

Brighton, Mass.