Pop Warner, Little League, Pee Wee.
Youth sports teams are quite popular in
America. We have the Little League World Series, District and National
championships in various sports, and high school championships. It is a rite of
passage for children and teenagers to participate in athletics at some point in
their lives. Sports teach children teamwork, discipline, and leadership, while
helping them be healthy and fit.
One school board member in New Hampshire
is attempting to take away that rite of passage and ban football. Paul Butler says children who
play football are at too much of a risk for concussions and other serious
injuries. He goes so far to call it “morally and ethically wrong” to continue
to let children and teenagers play football.
Football is indeed a dangerous
sport; but what isn’t dangerous? A child can get injured somehow in any sport. Hockey
is an extremely physical sport. Not only do the players hit each other in play,
but they are also encouraged to fight each other. Concussions are a common
injury, not only in the NHL, but also in youth hockey leagues. As the sister of
a long time hockey player, I have witnessed many sprains, muscle pulls,
fractures, broken bones, head injuries and serious cuts. Baseball, though not a
contact sport, can be dangerous as well. Think of Tony Conigliaro.
The popular player was struck in the face by a pitch, which ultimately ended
his career. The pitch shattered his cheekbone, but doctors said that if the
pitch had hit only an inch higher, he may have been killed.
Even non-team athletes are at risk
for concussions and serious injuries. Dancers, cheerleaders, and gymnasts
perform dangerous tricks all the time. Cheerleaders are constantly thrown in
the air. If the bases don’t throw someone correctly, or fail to catch her,
guess what? That cheerleader is on the ground, facing bone breaks, sprains, or
worse. There is a chance that she could land on her head, more than likely
resulting in a serious concussion.
So if sports and athletics are
dangerous and risky, why do we allow children and teenagers to participate in
them? Sports and athletics are a way for kids to join a certain community.
Usually, the friends you make within these communities are the friends you keep
for a long time. I danced with the same group of girls from age two to
eighteen, and they are some of the only people from high school I remained
friends with. Sports teach people how to work as a team, how to be a leader,
and for younger children, how to follow rules. Participating in athletics helps
people stay fit and healthy. And frankly, young athletes are extremely
passionate about the sport they play. Sometimes, that is the one thing that
keeps kids from stressing out and going insane. If you take football away,
those youngsters who play will be heartbroken.
In fact, sports are not the number
one cause of concussions. According to a CDC graph, 35.2%
of traumatic brain injuries are from falls. Motor vehicle accident related
concussions are the second leading types of brain injuries, with 17.3%. The
category that most sports related injuries would come in, struck by/against
something, comes in third with 16.5%. Concussions can be caused by falling down
stairs, car accidents or a falling item… ultimately; someone is at risk of a
concussion simply by walking. Why ban football, when there are so many other
risks out there? Should we keep our children in a plastic bubble to protect
them?
Your "Tony C" link is broken. This might be it: http://web.archive.org/web/20090211092407/http://www.redsoxconnection.com/tonycbeaning.html
ReplyDeleteI don't remember if I was watching that Friday August night, but I was enthralled as any seven year old with the "Impossible Dream". The Red Sox were the perennial doormat of the American League, same as the Chicago Cubs were for the National, and 1967 was their big year. I do remember the stories in the Boston Globe and the TV news. I do remember getting new batting helmets in Little League -- ones with a flap covering the ear facing the pitcher.
Because of Tony's career-ending injury.
So can better football helmets remove the risk of a concussion for growing children? Maybe, maybe not. There's a race between helmet manufacturers and medical research. A new plastic and leather invention is touted as a solution that will allow safe, concussion-free mayhem. Then a new medical study finds, "Nope. Still at risk for permanent brain damage."
But to answer your question "Why ban football, when there so many other risks out there"... The answer is choice. You cannot choose to avoid tripping down the stairs, because accidents happen. So you mitigate the risk by telling your kids to onto the bannister and yell at them for running down the stairs. You cannot choose to avoid a car crash, because you have no control over other drivers. So you mitigate the risk by using car seats and not starting the car until they have their seat belts on.
I chose to not allow my children to play contact sports, including hockey, rugby, and yes... football.
Very good article on Concussions, with some gets statistics to back up the entry. The risk of concussions in sports has been a topic that gets more and more discussion as we see athletes in every sport suffer from the dangers of concussions.
ReplyDeleteWith this being said, I feel like New Hampshire shouldn't ban football but maybe but a age limit on when you can start playing. If they instituted a age limit, this would prevent many young kids from suffering from Concussions.
You don't need to institute an age limit for when a kid can play football, you need to have these kids taught the proper way to tackle. At a young age you see kids develop these horrible habits of diving at the legs of their opponents that can have two horrible "worst case scenario" outcomes of either a concussion or tearing up your opponents knee.
ReplyDeleteThis guy is talking about mitigating the risk of car accidents, while you can mitigate the risk by teaching proper form tackling at a younger age. It seems counter-intuitive, but the worse thing that can happen in football is the advancement of the football helmet. The reason I say this is the "safer" you try to make the helmet the more confident the player will be in trying to use it as a weapon on the field.
Carl, for you to not allow your child to play a sport because of the risk of getting a concussion is over the top. As a person that grew up playing hockey, football, and baseball I can tell you that the only concussion I have ever received was in a baseball game from a line drive right back to my face. You are robbing your child of the opportunity to play two of the best sports on the planet over an irrational fear.