For safety reasons, Mississippi State University is seeking to ban Hoverboards from all facilities on its campus. The executive council will meet on Jan. 25 to further discuss the situation.
People all over the nation have been spending hundreds of dollars to keep up with the latest trend, the Hoverboard.
A Hoverboard is a levitating board that is used for personal transportation. It is similar to a scooter, except it doesn’t have wheels. It has become extremely popular amongst children, teenagers and adults.
Daisha Blanford, freshman kinesiology major, said banning the boards may not be such a bad idea.
“I would not mind having them banned from the campus,” she said. “I don’t necessarily feel this way because of safety issues, but because I think people take advantage of them.”
Blanford said she is just tired of seeing people use them to show off in front of others.
“I could be on my way to class and I’ll see students rolling into the union on them, which is crazy.”
A few reports of the gadget bursting into flames have also been circulating all over the media, which is another concern of the university.
Ashley Hollins, junior biology major who has been able to see what the Hoverboard is like thanks to a few of her friends, said she supports whatever decision MSU comes to in the end.
“I don’t think banning them is the best thing, simply because people should be allowed to ride them freely just as they do their bicycles and scooters,” Hollins said. “However, when I think about all the recent injuries people have been obtaining from them, it’s a good idea for State to want to get rid of them. We’re all aware of how easy it is for a person to hurt themselves by walking on campus just from the concrete and construction, so I can only imagine what that pain would feel like from falling off of their Hoverboard.”
Xavier Moore, sophomore kinesiology major, said the boards offer quicker transportation to class and they should not be prohibited.
“They are banning them for the wrong reasons,” he said. “It has only been a few occurrences where boards have caught fire and they came from improper charging or buying cheap replicas of the board.”
Moore said there are plenty of acceptable items used on campus daily that can also be dangerous to the students around campus.
“If they are going to ban the boards, they may as well ban cellular phones and all other electric appliances because anything can be a fire hazard if it is not maintained properly.”
Recent reports have revealed both Louisiana State University and the University of Alabama have already banned the gadget from their facilities.