Bad influence?

 Is skateboarding a bad influence?
Skateboarding itself is not a bad influence at all - in fact, it's a very good influence! Skateboarding keeps kids active, teaches them to set and achieve goals, challenges them - there are a lot of reasons that skateboarding by itself is a very good influence.
But most parents are concerned more about the punk, raw, angry side of skateboarding - and the drugs and alcohol abuse that can come along with it. It's true that skateboarding has always welcomed the rough crowd. Skateboarding has strong historical ties to the punk movement, and even further back to the innovative, aggressive young surf crowd. 
But the truth is, that skateboarding is only as bad of an influence as you want it to be.