Persuasive Essay On High School Sports Concussions

The brain is the most important organ in the human body, therefore it needs to be treated with care. In high school sports concussions are a common injury. Even though current concussion protocol is effective, it isn’t always easy for coaches and athletes to identify concussions. Not only that, athletes pretend that nothing is wrong and stay in the game because they don’t understand the possible consequences of doing so. These young athletes and their coaches need to be better informed about concussions and the consequences of not following concussion protocol. If these athletes realize what the risks of ignoring concussions are and if coaches are better educated on identifying concussions, the amount of concussion related deaths in teens would

be greatly reduced. There’s no need for high school students to die of a very preventable, but very dangerous injury. In order to better prevent reoccurring concussions in high school students, coaches and athletes need to be better educated on the symptoms and the long term effects of concussions if left untreated.
Recurring concussions are very dangerous to the development of the brain in young athletes. They can also lead to diseases such as CTE or repetitive head injury syndrome which can be fatal. If student athletes return to play with a concussion too early for whatever reason, they’re putting their life at risk. In an academic journal written by health professional Matt Brzycki, these risks are explained. Brzycki states:
“While recovering from a concussion, the brain is vulnerable to repeat injury. Returning to play before the brain is fully healed can put an athlete at risk for another concussion from a second impact. Though rare, this “second impact syndrome” could have dire consequences, including death or disability. This is one reason that it is crucial that parents gain an understanding of concussions, possible signs and symptoms, and what to do if they suspect one has occurred” (Brzychi 3).
This shows why athletes should follow proper protocol no matter how bad they want to stay in the game. The risk outweighs the reward by a long shot in this case. Even though the risk is so high, so many young athletes still just go back into the game thinking that it’s no big deal. Young athletes are the most vulnerable to concussions, the injury can cause trouble with the development of the brain. In a study by Josh Shroyer, it is explained why these young athletes are most affected. Shroyer states, “Approximately one third of those concussions occur in young athletes at pre collegiate levels. That population is even more susceptible to long-term effects and extended recovery times than are adults” (Shroyer 2). Later on Shroyer also states:
“In every case, all suspected concussions have the potential to be serious health issues and should not be overlooked or ignored. A concussion is an invisible brain injury with the possibility of long-term implications” (Shroyer 3).
Student athletes are risking the proper development of their brains when they take the gamble and return to play with concussions.

When concussions in young athletes are overlooked, serious consequences can arise. Another issue which causes concussions to become overlooked is the lack of knowledge that coached have when it comes to identifying when one of their players has a possible concussion. Coaches aren’t effectively trained when it comes to spotting when one of their players has concussion symptoms, therefore not pulling them out of play. Shroyer did a study on coaches and asked them true or false questions based on concussions. On a few of the questions, more than half of the coaches answered them wrong. Shroyer states, “Regrettably, only seven coaches (13%) knew and 25 (48%) did not know that high school athletes take longer to recover from a concussion than do older athletes” (Shroyer 7). Coaches don’t realize that it takes a good amount of time to fully recover from concussions. It’s especially crucial for younger athletes to receive the proper time to recover. Concussions are hard to be identified by untrained coaches. In an educational novel written by Peggy Parks, these struggles are explained. Peggy states, “Although research has heightened awareness of concussions and the associated problems, the injuries are not well understood by athletes, coaches, parents, and the general public” (Parks 54). Since it can be difficult to identify concussions in some cases,

coaches aren’t able to pull athletes out of play when needed. If student athletes don’t get pulled out, there will be dire consequences.
In order to prevent reoccurring concussions a couple of things need to happen.

Both coaches and athletes need to be better educated. Coaches need to be better educated when it comes to identifying concussions and athletes need to be educated on the risks of returning to play too soon. If coaches can get better educated on spotting concussions the amount of reoccurring concussions will decrease. If athletes have a better understanding of what can happen to them if they return too soon there will be less young athletes that try to return to play prematurely. In Shroyers study, he explains that coaches need to have a good understanding of concussion signs. Shroyer states, “It is imperative that coaches have the current knowledge and understanding to address these issues (concussions) as quickly and accurately as possible” (Shroyer 4). If all coaches can understand how to address concussions the correct way, there will be less athletes being released to play prematurely. This can also be seen on almost every site that has to do with concussions. Another example is an article on Mayo Clinic. The article states, “Coaches and players need to understand current guidelines for sports-related injuries. It's difficult to evaluate concussion during play, and coaches and players should be cautious and keep injured athletes out of the game” (Mayo Clinic). The sooner the concussion can be diagnosed, the sooner the athlete can start his or her protocol process, and are less likely to

stay in the game and get hurt. When athletes are diagnosed with concussions, they need to accept the fact that they need to rest. There is no medicine that will cure concussions, the only treatment is rest. This can be seen in Peggy Parks’ novel. Peggy states, “...the brain heals on its own, and there is nothing doctors can do to facilitate that healing process or speed it up. The only option is complete and total rest, both cognitive and physical” (Parks 34). Student athletes need to rest their brains completely in order to eliminate the possibility of premature return to play. Better educating athletes about premature return to play consequences with better prevent them from returning too soon. For example, if athlete knows about second impact syndrome, it’ll make them rethink their thoughts about lying and saying that they’re fine. Peggy Parks has an entire chapter in her novel about this condition. Her novel states:
“If they get back in the game too soon, they risk developing a rare but catastrophic condition known as second-impact syndrome. This occurs because the brain is much more vulnerable to injury after it has been injured, and it only takes minimal force to cause damage that is severe and irreversible” (Parks 41).
When someone hears the words “catastrophic” or “severe and irreversible”, it might scare them into doing the right thing. The right thing being staying out and letting the brain heal.
If these players can understand the severity of this injury, they won’t try and risk not staying out of play. They’ll ask themselves, “Is it worth it?”, and if they’re smart they will make the right decision. Players want to show off their toughness sometimes and they believe that nothing can stop them from playing. Even though toughness is key for contact sports like football, players need to understand why they should stay out if they experience concussion like symptoms. If they realize that they can possibly get a condition called CTE if they try to be “tough”, they might rethink their decision. CTE has been the cause for a lot of athletes deaths in the past. CTE and other brain related disorders due to injury are very serious conditions. In an article on protectthebrain.org, a research institute that specializes in brain injuries, it is stated, “Research indicates that there is a clear link between brain injuries and a number of different serious and debilitating neurological disorders, including Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia” (protectthebrain). This shows how crucial it is for student athletes to fully understand the importance of proper recovery. If they realize that they could seriously endanger their lives, it’ll give them a better reason to stay out for the designated time. Not only are concussions arguably the most serious sports injury, it’s also one of the most common. In an academic journal written by Matt Brzycki, it is mentioned,
“Surveillance Study, an estimated 1.5 million injuries occurred at the scholastic level in nine sports during the 2005-06 academic year, including about 133,000 concussions, representing 9% of all injuries. Compare this with the 2014-15 academic year in which about 1.2 million injuries were reported in those sports, including more than 292,000 concussions, representing 24.5% of all injuries”(Brzycki 2).
So not only will this method help prevent one of the most serious sports injuries, it’ll help prevent one of the most common sports injuries. Brzycki goes on and mentions how improved recognition still might not be enough. Brzycki states, “Even if greater recognition and better reporting contributed to the rising numbers, youth sports concussions are a major concern” (Brzycki 3). Even though concussion recognition needs to be greatly improved, more needs to be done to keep these athletes out of play.
Some may say that concussions are being handled as well as possible nowadays. In Peggy Parks book she explains the reasons why concussions can be minor injuries. Parks explains, “Most people with a concussion recover quickly and fully” (Parks 45). In a lot of cases this is true, concussions can be a small concern for some individuals. However she then explains that no concussion should be overlooked. Peggy States, “Even mild concussions should not be taken lightly… there is no such thing as a ‘minor concussion’” (Parks 59). This shows that even though concussions can be recovered from quickly, they should never be overlooked and further action should always be taken to increase the prevention of this serious injury. Another counterargument to this solution is that better equipment is the best way to prevent concussions. This can be seen on an article on momsteam.com. The author, Lindsey Barton, states, “The study provides what the authors say is good clinical evidence that helmet design can lower the risk of concussion” (Barton 1). It is important for athletes to use the proper equipment and better equipment can be beneficial. However, even though proper equipment can help prevent concussions, they aren’t going to fully prevent them. This is stated in the exact same article. Barton states, “...no helmet has yet been designed which can prevent al