If you've never heard the term "tombstoning" then basically it means jumping into the water from very high structures. This can be anywhere from 10, to 80 feet. The practice is mainly carried out by young males. If I turn back the clock 25 years it was a practice that we all participated in on a regular basis during the summer. However it wasn't called "tombstoming" in those days, we just called it "jumping off very high rocks"

It doesn't take a blind man on a galloping horse to work out that jumping from a high structure into water carries substantial risks. It is very easy for us adults to tell children that it's dangerous and they should not be doing it. Now I can just about remember what it was like to be a child. If an adult told me not to do something, that was almost a green light to go into it anyway. Young males have very little fear and don't really know the dangers they put themselves into a lot of the time. Blimey, it wasn't just jumping off high rocks that we used to get up to, When we were fishing at Berry Head in Brixham we used to climb the cliffs to get to the cafe, rather than being sensible and using the pathway. We would abseil off carparks using the hose, ride our bikes as fast as we could amongst traffic, I could go on forever about the dangerous things I got up to as a child. If an adult had told me not to do it, it would have gone in one ear and out the other.

So how can we stop kids putting their lives at risk? You can't and you won't, unless of course you lock them up from the age of 10 until they are 20. I haven't visited the places that people use for "tombstoming" so I can confirm whether or not this is already in place, but would it not hurt to make it quite clear how deep the water is at high and low water, and also to make it quite clear if there are any underwater hazards. A large red sign attached to a rock would be easy to put in place.

Now this is aimed at anyone who likes tombstoming. If you are familiar with the environment that you are jumping into then all I can say is be careful. On the other hand if you are jumping in to unknown water then you are taking your life in your hands. I was in hospital recently and there was a young lad who broke his neck whilst jumping off high rocks. Remember that once you damage your spinal cord there is no going back. The spinal cord does not repair itself so a spinal cord injury will affect you for the rest of your life. It's your choice.