These rolling shoes are a rage with many children and parents, too. But worry some others for safety reasons
They are hard to spot, those Heely children.
Although, millions of Heelys have been sold around the world, turning the sneakers with wheels into a must-have accessory for the grade-school set, you seldom notice a child wearing them.
To like it or not
A fad for some and an annoyance for others, Heelys had hit their stride just in time for summer. A backlash has set in as some worry whether the sneakers-on-wheels are safe. Some schools, malls and other public places have banned them.
For a company with about 40 employees, Texas-based Heelys has created a worldwide craze since the shoes hit the market in 2000. Many sporting goods and shoe stores sell them.
World Against Toys Causing Harm, a Boston-based non-profit group, puts Heelys on its 2006 'Ten Worst Toys' list and, the journal Paediatrics has warned of their possible hazards.
The Paediatrics study also pinpoints the tricky thing about wheeled sneakers. How can a child be sly about his new James Bond-like sneakers if he is armoured head to foot like a hockey goalie? So, they forgo helmets and pads, despite warnings by the company.
"Nobody wears any of that stuff with Heelys," said Lenore Gelman of Gaithersburg, Maryland, whose sons Teddy, 11, and Sam, 8, successfully lobbied for Heelys.
But the shoes' fans, which include parents, say that heeling is no worse than many other outdoor activities.
The verdict
"It's in the same league as table tennis, billiards and bowling," said Edward Heiden, a US-based consultant who, at Heelys' request, analysed more than 2 million incident reports compiled by the safety commission.
Heiden found, sneakers-on-wheels had a better safety record than bicycles or skateboards or playing soccer.
