My Son's Helmet Persuasive Speech

It’s a Monday night and you are helping your six-year-old son strap on his helmet as he is getting ready for his first little league game. He has a big 43 plastered across his back, just like you when you were his age, and his brand new cleats are perfectly white as they await endless amounts of grass stains to rub upon them for years to come. This sentimental moment makes you think back to your first game as your own dad drove you to the practice field where he cheered you on in the way that you will for your son in the next hour or so. The game goes by and your little number 43 played hard, as any six-year-old would, taking multiple hard hits. At the end of the night as you tuck your son into bed, he tells you that he has a headache, and remembering fondly of what your father told you after your first game, you respond with “don’t worry, you will get used to it and it will go away.” Over many years, football has been a source for American competitive companionship, cheer, and tradition. Before, it only made sense to strap a helmet on your son when he was old enough to run and throw a ball, because that’s what your father did with you. This family tradition is all fun and games until your little number 43 takes one too many hard tackles and falls.

As research on the relativity between head injuries and football increases, it is clear to see that tackle football is no longer an acceptable activity for children younger than the age of twelve, and that parents need to refrain from letting their children play this sport until their bodies have become physically able to better handle football’s brutal force.
At the Boston University School of Medicine, forty-two retired NFL players between the ages 40 – 69 were given administered tests to measure how well their brains will function in situations needed for memory, concentration, reasoning, and problem solving. These players were divided into two test groups: those who began playing football before the age of twelve and those who began later on in life. The results left doctors amazed. “According to results of the study published in the journal Neurology, retired NFL players who started playing tackle football before they were 12 years old performed about 20% worse on the tests than those who started playing when they were older” (Caplan, Forbes).
It is clear in this study that children, before the age of twelve, do not have brains that are fully developed to take on harsh collisions and should not be allowed the chance to. These younger years for kids are pivotal moments for their brain to grow properly into it’s complete adult stages. By throwing these kids into opportunities of battery and collisions, we are greatly harming the chances for their brains to fully develop. According to Southwest Athletic Trainers’ Association, “Between 1997 and 2007, the number of emergency department visits for concussions doubled between 8 and 13 year olds” (Guida, US News Health). These parents undergo endless amounts panic and stress at these emergency visits to at times find that their child has a “mild” concussion. And for whatever reason, “mild” gives a wave of relief over some of these parents. But why? For now, a mild concussion may result in slight confusion and nausea, but with advancing research it is found that the long term affects are greater than originally thought. “One study, published in the journal Neurology in July, found that right after a concussion, study participants performed 25 percent worse on memory and cognition tests when compared to healthy people. And one year later, even though test scores were the same between both groups, those who had a concussion still showed signs of brain damage on imaging scans” (Guida, U.S. News Health). What parents don’t realize is that there are long lasting and damaging effects that these concussions can hold on their children’s brains, and this callow attitude needs to change. Parents and officials need to take precaution and hold their children back from tackle football.
On the other hand, football provides many important life lessons and skills that children need to learn. These kids learn about teamwork, working hard to achieve your goals, the importance of staying healthy and how to respectively take instructions. “Studies have shown that participation in sports as a youngster fosters academic achievement, increases self-esteem, diminishes behavioral problems, and heightens social development” (Abrams, Huffington Post). Most of all, playing sports will heighten a child’s leaderships skills. The ability to lead a team will show in how your child grows up and leads his peers within schoolwork and job opportunities. As well as the opportunity to grow as a leader, football also provides the confidence that is needed for growing a leader by showing a child how their peers, coaches and family support them. This type of effect is not only limited to the children playing either. “Aristotle says, ‘and since audiences in both the theater and the arena witness challenges and contests that simulate real-life experiences, spectators take home important lessons observing the way characters or athletes overcome obstacles’” (Khan, New York Times). It’s hard to ignore these beneficial factors because these characteristics are what greatly attribute to a well functioning civilization. So why take away an opportunity that can make our nation greater?
Although this may be true, it should also be considered that many other sports can give children these essential life lessons and skills – without so many possibilities of injury. John Madden, former NFL player and coach, tells Forbes magazine “I’m a firm believer that there’s
no way that a six-year-old should have a helmet on and learn a tackling drill. There’s no way. Or a seven-year-old or an eight-year-old. They’re not ready for it… Why do we have to start with a six-year-old who was just potty trained a year ago and put a helmet on him and tackle?” (Caplan, Forbes.). All sports serve some potential towards injury, but none in the severe way that tackle football will. The opportunities to stay healthy, gain confidence and leadership traits are available within sports that don’t support head on collisions such as baseball, basketball or golf. There is no reason to take away opportunities for children to gain these important skills, but it is necessary to make sure that these skills are learned in a safer environment.
It is time for parents to take action. If you introduce your child – who doesn’t know any better – to an activity that can give them dangerous and long lasting effects, then you are to blame. As a parent, it is important to promote the importance of hard work and leadership, but that shouldn’t be at the cost of your child’s physical and mental health. Due to the plethora of research and studies, Children that are younger than the age of twelve should absolutely not be able to play tackle football. Too many times we here coaches say “safety first,” so let’s start acting like it.