Kahreman, Slovic, and Tversky’s (1982) view of the extent of fear
and the actual crime rate can be held in a parallel light to the, unpublished,
events of skateboarders and roller-bladers in today’s society. Kahreman
et al. (1982) stated that “the extent of fear of crime in a community is
less strongly associated with the actual crime rate than with the amount
of news about crime - and the nature of that news - in the media”(Goode
& Ben-Yehuda, 1994, p.97). That is skaters, some years ago, were portrayed
by the media as a threat to the safety of the community, using benches
in schools and parks and gutters or sidewalks. Although the initial portrayal
of these youths was indeed factual, subsequent reports were somewhat sensationalised
embellishments of the initial media coverage. Port Macquarie and surrounding
districts saw a resurgence in the skating ideology, subculture and lifestyle
in 1996. Since there were no facilities for this sub-section of the community,
youths were seen using, and consequently defacing, garden blockades near
the local Post Office. Complaints from the community were voiced with media
coverage following close behind. Although the skaters had not injured anyone,
television and print news reports expressed concern over the elderly people
being knocked over and young children being hurt. This was a valid concern,
however, an underlying moral panic had been created.