Stephen Repine Ms. Krick English 8 16 May 2024 Are Contact Sports Worth the Risk? Yes. One of the biggest debates in sports is concussions. Many opponents of contact sports say that children should not play contact sports until at least high school because of the risk of head injury. Even though contact sports pose a risk of injury, the reward from these sports outweighs the risk of injury. The benefit of contact sports is that they are often team sports and team sports have and teach many social skills. Paige Maslen shows this in her article “The Social and Academic Benefits of Team Sports” when she says “Team athletes are constantly working with a slate of other people, many of whom can become positive role models along the way. Team sports foster mentorship between older players and younger players, coaches and athletes, and more.”(4 Maslen) “Team sports are said to bolster the five C’s: competence, confidence, connections, character, and caring. …show more content…
In TODAY’s video “Children’s Concussions and Sports: What You Need to Know to Minimize Head Injuries” a coach states “If the kids weren’t playing football they would be on the couch” (4:34 TODAY). Also, a parent says their “pediatrician advised playing football” (4:20 TODAY). In Lee van der Voo’s article “The Concussion Gap: Head Injuries in Girls Soccer Are An ‘Unpublicized Epidemic”, Voo talks about how sports can benefit players. He states “being physically fit is good for kids” (28 Voo). It also “helps establish lifelong fitness habits”(28 Voo). Some critics of contact sports argue that the major injuries that can be sustained do not justify the
In the article “Should Kids Play Football” from the Scholastic Scope on February 2015, writer Jennifer Shotz discusses both issues of the benefits and dangers of playing American football. For example, Jennifer Shots mentioned that tens of thousands of young football players get concussions every year. She states that most players return to the game after they are healed but some never return because their concussion was too severe to their health. On the other hand, the writer also discusses how football isn't the only sport that encounters concussions. The rules of football are always changing and each new rule provides a safer way to play the game. For example, the writer notes that Pop Warner has reduced the amount of practice time dedicated
Are young children putting their health and even their lives at risk if they partake in the sport of football? Some claim that the American sport is far too dangerous and the risk of concussions and injuries far outway the pros of the physical sport, while others insist that technological improvements and new regulations have made the sport safer. Jonathan Zimmerman, a professor of history and education at New York University, argues in his paper, “We Must Stop Risking the Health of Young Football Players,” that football is a sport that is too dangerous for the youth. He states his belief that technological improvements in helmets and changes in the rules of the sport have had little effect on reducing injuries and that nothing has worked.
“Concussion rates for children under the age of 19 who play football have doubled in the last decade, even though the overall sports participation has declined” (Youth Football Concussion Statistics). Football is extremely popular in American culture. Children all across the world love watching and playing the sport. However, many studies have shown numerous possible long term effects of starting the beloved sport when young. Undeveloped brains have a harder time recovering from bumps and blows that occur during playing time. After examining the long term effects of children playing football, it is clear that the tradition of tackle football in youth should be held off until the brain is more fully developed,
That’s where the advancements in concussion detection and treatment comes into play. According to the article “Advancements in Concussion Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment” the writer states “the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 207,830 trips to an emergency room annually between 2001 and 2005 due to sports participation injuries” ( “Advancements in Concussion Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment | The Sport Journal” ). The report from the CDC shows how many reported sports injuries occur in a short period. However, this does not include the vast number of injuries not reported every year. That is a lot of injuries that go unreported and not cared for. We can help make it to where all kids after a concussion report it and get treated by educating them on the dangers they face if they continue to play as they are and tell them they will be right back to playing after the testing has been completed and they are clear to play again. This is not hard to do it’s just the fact of telling the kids the truth of the matter and them knowing the tests aren’t hard and don’t take long to pass. But the kids need to know this is needed if they want to be able to play for years to come in school and even in
For example, “The N.F.L., which long denied that there was any link between the game and brain damage, has in recent years been promoting what it considers safer tackling techniques aimed at reducing head-to-head collisions” (Larned, CNN). This is important because it helps you understand the action being taken to reduce head to head contact in effort to reduce concussions in football at all ages. This shows that the more we study tackles and new techniques, the more we are able to take concussions out of football. In addition, Victoria Larned wrote, “It suggests that participants weigh potential health risks against the recreation benefits of proper tackling.” This shows that, in fact, many people are aware of the benefits gained by proper tackling technique. If kids are introduced to proper tackling techniques, the game of football becomes safer for both the tackler and the ball carrier. Teaching kids proper tackling will help reduce the amount of head and neck injuries in
The author (“Bennet Omalu”) argues that after all the research has been done about how football is linked to brain injury, there is no question that children should not be aloud to play football. A big issue is that even if a child has no documented concussions or reported symptoms and that child continues to play
Since football’s inception, it has been considered a manly sport. Young boys have been encouraged by their parents to participate in the game. For many boys, it is considered a rite of passage. However, football is a dangerous sport. A study conducted by the Center for Injury Research and Policy found, “an estimated 5.25 million football-related injuries among children and adolescents between 6 and 17 years of age were treated in U.S. emergency departments between 1990 and 2007. The annual number of football-related injuries increased 27 percent during the 18-year study period, jumping from 274,094 in 1990 to 346,772 in 2007” (Nation 201). These reported injuries include sprains and strains, broken bones, cracked ribs, torn ligaments, and concussions. A concussion usually happens when a player takes a hard hit to the head or is knocked unconscious on the playing field, and if not diagnosed and treated quickly, a concussion can result in death.
One of the most common injuries in sports today is head injuries. Some of the major sports that head injuries occur in are hockey, football, and MMA due to the body contact between two players. Concussions cannot be detected through a CT scan or x-rays.
From long practice hours, hot summer workouts, and many Friday nights, my personal observation of this dangerous sport is exceptionally prevalent. My initial experience of the damage that football brings came my eighth grade year when I witnessed a senior football player on my team try and eat a phone on the ride home after receiving a concussion in the third quarter of the game. Which is a prime example to defend the fact that football related injuries to the head result in people not “being all there.” Not only have I seen someone try and eat a phone, but I have also witnessed head injuries resulting in my own friend randomly yelling at me after a game for no reason, and also a friend trying to jump down a full flight of stairs thinking he was starring in a movie. The fast paced, high intensity contact that comes with playing football is nothing to think flippantly of when it plays a role on brain trauma, and the results of brain trauma.
A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury that is caused by a blow to the head or body, a fall, or another injury that jars or shakes the brain inside the skull. Injuries are common in most sports, but football and boxing have the deadliest injuries of them all, severe head trauma. In 2011, there were 120 cases of sport-related deaths of young athletes and over 65% of those cases were due to concussions, according to Southwest Athletic Trainers’ Association. Concussions lead to many different problems: confusion, anxiety, suicide, heightened risk of violence, the list goes on and on. Football isn’t the only sport that suffers from traumatic brain injuries, boxing is also one of the highest casualty rates in all of the sports. Would football still be football if there wasn’t such a thing as a concussion? Everyone in America has different views on how this issue should be addressed or situated. “Who Killed Benny Paret?” (Patterns, 13th ed. 337), “What Price Football?” (Patterns, 13th ed. 605), and “Would Football without
Dr. Robert Cantu, a leading expert on sports concussions, recommends that kids don’t play tackle football before the age of 14. He also says banning heading in soccer and body checking in hockey before 14 will help as well. When it comes to the vast knowledge of concussions and medical research we know today we can’t just forget about it we have to take action. For our kids sakes we can’t afford any more negligent behavior. We have to address the questions now. As of what we know now, do we want to place a kid in any sport in which they are hitting their head on a regular bases? (Ken Reed PG. 1 web)
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year emergency departments treat an estimated 135,000 children ages five to eighteen for sports-related brain injuries (National). Most of these injuries are concussions, and the children recover. The long term effects on children who suffer repeated concussions, even mild ones, is still not known. It’s hard to imagine a child as a disabled, middle-aged man, but repeated concussions could put a child at risk for severe conditions such as early onset dementia, Parkinson’s disease and other neurological disorders that require neurosurgery, but no one wants to think about while on the sidelines at a football game.
In today’s society sports are a huge part of our culture. People of all ages watch and play all different kinds of sports. It is the American way for people to take an interest in sports and activities. They are becoming more and more popular as the years go on. One sport that is extremely popular in this country is football. Millions of people watch football of different levels including professional, college, and high school. Also many younger kids such as 7 or 8 years old are playing pop warner. This is great but considering a recent problem with this sport is the rise of concussions. The amount of concussions due to playing football is constantly on the incline and is forcing people to question the safety of the game.
Football isn’t even the most dangerous contact sport that you could play. Other high school sports have recorded just as much, or even more concussions than football. In an article on WebMD.com Robert Preidt writes that, “Between 2010 and 2015, the concussion rate was higher in girls' soccer than in boys' football, the findings showed. During the 2014-2015 school year, concussions were more common in girls' soccer than in any other sport in the study.” Despite being viewed as one of the most dangerous sports, football does not even have the largest rate of concussions or the most serious concussions. In fact, in another study on Fox Sports.com, soccer was seen to be responsible for more of the serious concussions. Concussion numbers can be dropped with attentiveness and responsibility as kids play the game of football. Most concussions in youth football are a result of the player being irresponsible or intentionally violent while they play. But, new rules are in place that diminish this style of play. The amount of concussions can be reduced, and organizations are working on making football a safer game to play. In an article on the New York Times Marvin Washington, a former NFL player, says, “I know this is contrary to public opinion, but the game of football is safer than it has ever been, and is evolving into an even safer game.” The safety of football players at all
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