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Opinion essay on football and brain injuries
Opinion essay on football and brain injuries
Opinion essay on football and brain injuries
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Tackle football is a culturally significant and popular sport in America. Many young children feel compelled to mirror the game they see played on television. They are too young to realize the dangers of doing so, and thus it is our duty as a society to keep them from hurting themselves. Young people should not be allowed to play tackle football because it negatively impacts their cognitive development, and can cause a slew of other physical ailments. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, former NFL players who began playing tackle football before the age of 12 performed 20 percent worse on cognitive tests. By playing tackle football when under the age of 12, their ability to memorize, organize, and read were all impaired. The article quotes the Boston University Alzheimer Disease Center, which explained that the age of 12 is a landmark year for a male brain’s development. This is especially alarming given that according to the University of Colorado School of Medicine, 70 percent of all football players are under the age of 14, and that players between the ages 9-12 experience on average 240 head impacts per football …show more content…
The National Athletic Trainers’ Association provides statistics on youth sports, one of which being “There are three times as many catastrophic football injuries among high school athletes as college athletes.” Aside from long term effects, there are startling figures pertaining to short term head injuries, being that “15.8% of football players who sustain a concussion severe enough to cause loss of consciousness return to play the same day.”, and that “High school athletes who have been concussed are three times more likely to suffer another concussion in the same season.” Given how prevalent and severe these issues are, it is apparent how eminent this threat to children’s health this practice truly
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.
As explained early on in this article, football can cause several physical and mental injuries either instantly or in the near future. This is due to the constantly tackling, hitting, and screaming from all the players and coaches. Because of these intense actions, football can increase the chance of dementia-like symptoms in players. This was examined by Ann Mckee, a neuropathologist, who ran several tests in the Veterans Hospital
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
[National Federation of State High School Associations] NFHS (high school statistics 14-17/18) participation data shows a little over 1.1 million participants; for a total of roughly 6.6 million participants in youth football from Peewee up through high school Varsity. You could probably adjust this 5 percent in both directions as a deviation because again, while each area may have full padded football, not all data is centralized [2].” Due to its nature, the sport of football has always been a physical sport and participating athletes have always been prone to various injuries; however, the issue of injuries inflicted by the game did not become a social issue until recently. Among the several injuries this sport exposes; the leading affliction and hottest social topic is chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). In 2002 Bennet Omalu, a forensic pathologist and chief medical examiner of San Joaquin County, California, as well as a professor in the UC Davis Department of Medical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, first discovered CTE and defined the same as, “… a progressive degenerative disease that afflicts the brain of people who have suffered repeated concussions and traumatic brain injuries (TBI)” [3]. Omalu discovered this new found disease in
Brady, Erik. “Changing the Game on Youth Concussions.” USA Today 26 May 2011, Virginia ed.: 1C. Print.
The game of football has become safer over the past few years and is helping cut down the risk of injury. Not only are they safer during they play with the new safety technology they will be healthier after they play as well. Aikman praised the NFL for its recent decision to run baseline tests on all players in training camp so the league can later determine if their brains have been damaged from hits to the head.(“Aikman…”). With the new testing players be better equipped and prepared before and after their football careers. Many football players get brain injuries which is why they need to have better safety equipment. In any given season, about 20% of high school players suffer brain injuries (“Lanham”). The safety equipment is becoming way more advanced as well. Helmets are getting better, but it’s more effective at protecting the skull than the brain inside (“Death of Football…”). The Children’s Sports Athletic Equipment Safety Act comes in light of the fact that there are no federal guidelines for both new and used helmets that formally test against the forces believed to cause concussions (“Lanham”). The new safety equipment can’t protect everything thou...
“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,
Have you ever wondered why so many NFL players retire at a young age? One of the main reasons why is that football is a very dangerous sport. Football is known to cause serious damage to both the brain and body. Football has terrible long term effects on the brain, there are much better ways to get your workout, and leaves your brain in much worse shape in comparison to the average person.
Children under 12 years old shouldn't be allow to play tackle football . To being With , in the 20th paragraph it's says " but a 5 year-old playing football is ridiculous to have them out here banging there brains out" because they can seriously get injured. Every child aged 9 to 12 can be exposed to 240 head impacts during a single football seasons , a better understanding of how these impacts may affect children's brains is urgently needed around age 12 the blood flow to the brain increases , and brain structures such as the hippocampus , which is the critical for memory , reach their highest volume . According to paragraph 10 it's also says "That's exactly what Debra Pyka thought when she signed up her son, Joseph Chernach, for Pop Warner
“Maybe I´m stupid or whatever, but to me if I got a concussion, if I could see straight and carry a football, then I´m not telling anybody”, Ricky Williams, NFL Football player. The argument about whether kids should play football or not is an important topic to argue. People need to understand that the concussions and other injuries are more serious with young kids. The problem is that many people think that it could be stopped by not allowing kids to play at all. Although parents can reduce risk of injury by not allowing their kids to play football, parents should let their children play football because it lets kids follow their dreams, it helps kids become more mature and independant, and if kids use proper technique they can reduce injuries.
Following behind motor vehicle crashes, traumatic brain injury in sports is the second leading cause of traumatic brain injuries for people fifth-teen to twenty-four years of age. Immense concerns follows given that American football accounts for the highest incidence of concussions (Rowson and Duma 2130). In addition, th...
Parents around the country are taking notice. Within the last decade alone, the exorbitant amount of coverage and publicity revolving around concussions has caused many to question whether it is safe for children to participate in contact sports. However, it is beneficial that more attention is being paid toward this subject matter as more research is now being done to improve safety for all participants. Kids should not be prevented from participating in contact sports because of the life lessons that that can be obtained and because of the increased priority that that has been placed on medical care, prevention, and overall awareness. However, it is pivotal that proper guidance is available after one suffers their first concussion so that the appropriate decision can be formulated as to whether one can return to the sport.
Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) and concussions have been a hot topic in all levels of football recently. Many people fear the effects of TBI’s and believe that football should be outlawed. The purpose of this research project is to discover if the sport of football needs to evolve in order to recognize the significance of TBI’s. Not only will this project focus on the negative effects of football, but the positives as well. In addition, various topics of football will be analyzed. The Madison Varsity football team (approximately 45 players) will be surveyed. Two or three Madison football coaches and the school trainer will also be contacted for an interview as well.
In a CNN article, Kelly Wallace said that more than 3.5 million children younger than fourteen need treatment for sports related injuries (1). Many children are getting hurt in sports, and the benefits , may not be worth the countless concussions. The brains of young children have not fully developed and hard hits to the head can be life-threatening. The Roque News wrote an article on students playing sports, and they said, “In 2009 two high school students died from multiple hits to the head…”(McGough 1). Now innocent teenagers died from a contact sport. The constant jarring of the head finally killed two high schools students providing sports can be extremely dangerous. There are some downsides that make school sports an inadequate decision.
Football, one of the most popular sports in the U.S., is also the most dangerous; it holds an astounding half a million injuries nationally due to the sheer violence and brute strength used against another player in the sport, and, although it is believed that these injuries can be prevented, there is nothing stopping another player from recklessly hurting another except their will-power, this is why football should be banned from high schools.