How to Support a Child Who Loves Extreme Sports

Some children are thrill-seekers. These are the children that seemingly do crazy things like climb onto your roof or slide down your stair railing. Your first instinct might be to get mad at them, which is only natural. You fear for their safety, and there they are, actively putting their safety in danger. So, how do you raise a child that loves thrill-seeking? You direct that energy into extreme sports.

There are pros and cons to every sport, and really, your child is more likely to get hurt in the “typical” sports like football. There are so many new hybrid sports that push the limits of technology and sport that there is something for anyone’s tastes. You could get a motorized surfboard from jetsurfny.com and ride whatever water is near you. Extreme sports aren’t limited by old rules; they’re all about making new ones. About finding new thrills. Supporting your child as they find their extreme sport is the only way to go.

When you choose to support your child’s love of everything extreme, you should direct them to extreme sports. These sports have a culture behind them, meaning that they can make friends, learn from mentors, get better at what they love doing, and learn how to take calculated risks. Here is how (and why) you should support your child’s love of extreme sports:

You will be there for their injuries

Saying no for many children and adolescents doesn’t mean no, it means “not in front of you”. Your child will likely continue to seek thrills anyway, so supporting them is the only way to make sure that you are there when they do, inevitably, get hurt.

Know they will be more mature

Studies show that adolescents who partake in extreme sports are far less likely to exhibit antisocial behavior. They don’t need the thrill of doing drugs or stealing to fuel them. Adolescents in extreme sports get enough adrenaline every single day, however, they are also getting exercise, disciplining their mind and body, and learning their limits (and how to exceed them).

It makes them happy
Your goal as a parent is to make your child happy. You want them to be happy as a kid, as a teenager, and as an adult. Forbidding them to do something they love won’t make them happy, and it usually won’t stop them from doing it. Supporting them is just another way you can keep them close and for your relationship to strengthen.

Know they will be more disciplined

Every sport teaches discipline. Extreme sports teach self-discipline. They encourage a personal drive to succeed. To make that jump. To land that trick. This discipline teaches them focus, control, and about how many times they must fail before they can succeed. These traits will continue throughout their life. Your child won’t be the kid who is so scared of failure that they have a nervous breakdown in college. Your child knows that to do it right, to have everyone awed at that trick you could do, you had to fall a thousand times before.