High School Football Injuries

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Football has always been a popular sport in the United States, many high school students play on their local teams in hopes of landing a spot on their favorite professional team. Both college and high school football bring enthusiasm and excitement to the student population, however this may cause many to overlook the harmful side of playing such a high contact sport. Football requires a great deal of physical contact between players to play, therefore it not unsurprising that players can suffer from many injuries. While a football player at any level can receive an injury from playing the sport, teens are especially vulnerable to brain damage. High school students lack the mental maturity and bodily development that they will later gain as …show more content…

High schools often cannot provide expert medical care for any players that are injured while playing. Some teens never receive any expert medical care despite severe injuries (Schwarz, n.d., p. 25). College and professional football can afford to have expert physicians present on games, which reduces the danger of playing football. Furthermore, college and professional football players have access to newer equipment and protective gear, while high students used old, outdated technology. These decrepit helmets and padding passed are a moment away from breaking down and will do a poor job of protecting players. Alan Schwarz (n.d.) states, “even new helmets are designed to prevent only skull fractures, not concussions” (p.25). If the newest technology will do little to brace a player from a concussion, how can an old helmet be expected to protect teen players? Since high schools cannot provide the proper means to protect and care for their football players, they should not have football …show more content…

While other vulnerable areas of the body such as the ankles or knees can be trained to become stronger, the brain cannot be protected so easily (Nationwide Children’s Hospital, n.d., 22). High school players’ safety equipment do not prevent severe head trauma, such as concussions. A concussion is a brain disease that hinders the mind’s ability to think and process information. Concussions are extremely dangerous to youth because they harm the soft brain tissue of youth more than a fully grown adult’s. Yet, concussions are commonplace in football. The best way to prevent concussions is to not allow football to be played altogether in high school. Another danger that poses to football players at all levels is chronic traumatic encephalopathy, also known as C.T.E. Alan Schwarz (n.d.) describes C.T.E as a “head-trama-induced disease linked to depression, impulse control problems, memory loss, and dementia” (p. 24). Owen Thomas, a football player for most of his life, was found after his suicide to have C.T.E., even though he was never diagnosed with a concussion. This disease is most likely to be the cause of his suicide. C.T.E. can be present in a football player and still be undetectable by doctors. Owen Thomas was never diagnosed with a concussion, yet still died of chronic traumatic encephalopathy

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