| As a kid, I always sported a Band-Aid strapped to the back of my ankle. I was too stubborn to give up my beloved Crocs plastered with colorful Jibbitz — the little charms that made each pair feel uniquely mine. Growing up in Singapore's sweltering heat didn't do my ankles any favors; the constant friction of the straps left me with blisters that still haunt me. There were days I'd be banned from wearing my clogs, my mom's way of saying enough is enough. Fast forward to life in the US, and I've discovered I'm not alone in my footwear devotion. Crocs sales have soared, in part because the squishy, waterproof shoes are still beloved by kids eager for a quick slip-on before dashing off to school. Yet a growing number of schools in at least 12 states are now banning these iconic clogs, my colleague Julia Fanzeres reported this week, in part because they can pose a tripping hazard. "Whenever someone mentions a foot injury, the first thing everyone says is, 'I bet you they were wearing Crocs,'" Oswaldo Luciano, a school nurse in New York, told Julia. But the shoes can cause other problems. "The biggest con is they're being used as primary footwear, especially in children," says Priya Parthasarathy, a podiatrist in Silver Spring, Maryland, and spokesperson for the American Podiatric Medical Association. "I mean, I even see people working out in the gym with Crocs on," she says. "That's the issue — too much of one thing." Frequent use of Crocs can cause issues in children's feet like Sever's Disease, an inflammation of the growth plate in the heel, says Parthasarathy, who's seen an uptick in cases in her practice. "This happens when kids wear these shoes all day — their feet aren't getting enough support," says Parthasarathy, who's a mother of three. Crocs are really convenient for what they're designed for, says Lance Silverman, an orthopedic surgeon based near Minneapolis, "which is loungewear around a pool or walking on a beach." Silverman says Crocs should be used as "transition wear," describing how his own kids ditch their cleats after soccer and change into slides so they can walk around comfortably. "But on the soccer field, you would never use a pair of Crocs because your foot just doesn't have any stability on the ground," Silverman says. A Crocs spokesperson said that while they can be an all-day, everyday shoe, it doesn't see the brand used for athletic activities. The company's most recent quarterly earnings suggest that the brand's sales may have peaked. Maybe school officials, doctors and moms like mine are finally making their displeasure felt. In the meantime, I am still ready to take the risk for a little shoe flair, even if it means enduring a few blisters along the way. — Rthvika Suvarna | 
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