On a typical Friday night in any town across the country you can hear the band playing the school fight song, cheerleaders cheering at the top of their lungs, parents proudly hoisting homemade posters in support of the team, and the student body feverishly rooting for their friends. Is there anything that can bring a community closer than a Friday night high school football game? As the team comes sprinting onto the field one has to wonder has anyone considered the fact that head injuries, specifically concussions, have become such a danger in this game that is loved so much across America. Given the volume of recent research that indicates head injuries can lead to long-term brain disease, should high schools continue to encourage their students to play tackle football? “Parents, coaches and school administrators have been made aware of the dangers of tackle football as currently played. Yet they encourage students to take part in a game that, increasingly, is known to be dangerous. The children are conditioned to accept violence and self-sacrifice as part of the game.” (Koller) In a Health Day News Survey Dotinga found that, “over half of the surveyed student ignored their symptoms for fear of not being allowed to play.” Many schools, parents, and students are making the decision not to play. “Since the onslaught of information on concussions and their effects hit the mainstream in roughly 2010-11, there are 21,814 fewer high school players, according to participation data compiled by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).” Due to the high risk of head injuries attributed to tackle football, high schools across the United States should stop offering tackle football as an official sport. There are m... ... middle of paper ... ...Football Research” National High School Sports Federation. Copyright 2013 Powell, John W., and Kim D. Barber-Foss. "Traumatic brain injury in high school athletes." Journal of the American Medical Association 282.10 (1999): 958-963. Print. Reed, Ken. “It's time to ban high school football.” Chicago Tribune Aug.2012 Rowson,Steven. and Stefan. Duma. : Development of the STAR Evaluation System for Football Helmets: Integrating Player Head Impact Exposure and Risk of Concussion. Virginia Tech 2011. Shakir,Hakeem,M.D. and Elad. Levy, M.D. “We must protect our young athletes from brain injuries.” The Buffalo News Dec. 2013 Smith, Stephanie. “Study offers clues about how athletes' brain disease begins” CNN Aug.2013 Print. Woods, Mike. “Will head injuries be the death knell for football?” Post -Crescent Media Nov.2013
In contrast to the positives, high school athletics can be seen in a negative light. “Concussions [from athletics] cause structural brain damage” (Solotaroff 7). Even though nobody is said to get a concussion in Friday Night Lights, they are very frequent in football and in other sports today. They occur all the time in football especially. In addition to that piece of nega...
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
The average NFL player takes up to 1,000 blows to the head throughout their football career. Some of those blows can have the force of a sledgehammer (“RealNatural”). Based on a research study by Dr. Jesse David, there were 265 concussions reported in the 2012 season, during the 2011 season there were 266 concussions, and 270 concussions in 2010 season (Kacsmar). It has been known that repeated blows to the head can cause long-term brain damage since at least the 1950’s, long before most of the NFL players had begun their careers (“RealNatural”). Past infractions of the NFL have already resulted in over 4,500 forme...
Kremer, Andrea. "Health of the Game: Brain Injuries beyond Concussions 0." NFL.com. N.p., 7 Mar. 2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. (Online Video)
“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,
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...
Mihoces, Gary. “More padding the issue of concussions and better helmets.” USA Today Sports. 23 August 2013. Web. 29 November 2013.
Moser, R. S., Schatz, P., & Jordan, B. D. (2005). Prolonged effects of concussion in high school athletes. Neurosurgery, 57(2), 300-306.
Concussions and the effect they have on people ranging from the young to the old has become a very popular discussion in recent years. Generally people watch sports for entertainment and then there are those who engage in high impact sports from a very young age on. The people at home know how fun playing in a sport is, however they may not know the brutal consequences for some participating in that sport. Injuries to the brain are a main concern among those in the world of high impact sports. Football, soccer, wrestling, lacrosse, and rugby are among sports that athletes receive injuries in. The injuries vary from sprains, to fractures, to torn MCL or ACL, and bruised organs. Concussions are a severe type of injury endured by athletes in the sports world and this life changing injury is one that people are becoming more aware of.
Traumatic Brain Injury — Football, Warfare, and Long-Term Effects. New England Journal of Medicine. pp. 1293-1296. Doi: 10.1056/NEJMp1007051.
Everyone has heard about the so called “Concussion Epidemic” in the National Football League. The stories are everywhere from SportsCenter to local news stations. Concussions are when a person gets hit on the head or even somewhere else on the body and the brain slams into the skull due to the impact. If concussions are such a big deal in the pros, what does it mean for youth sports in America? Nearly 15 percent of all sports related injuries in high school athletes are concussions(American Headache Society). Concussions are a major health concern for youth sports and everyday more research is being shown about the long term effects of repeated blows to the head.
Football is America’s favorite sport. It is a fast-paced, hard-hitting game. Every week thousands of men and boys all across the country take part in football and every week these men and boys receive violent hits during the game. Frequently, as a result of these violent hits, the player receives a concussion. However, the long-term effects of concussions on players are not fully understood. New research shows that even a slight concussion in a football game can have lasting effects on a player. As a result of this research, children under the age of fourteen should not play tackle football.
Adirim, Terry A. “Concussions in Sports and Recreation.” Clinical Pediatric Emergency Medicine 8.1 (2007): 2-6. 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...
As a result of many deaths of professional athletes through suicide as well as general concern for health, concussion awareness and testing is as high as it’s ever been. Precautions and tests are currently being set up in almost sports in the attempt to diminish the long term effects. Although the symptoms and exact recovery time are still unknown, doctors and researchers are sure that concussions and other forms of head impacts can have long term effects that can present serious issues throughout the rest of these individual’s lives. The risk of potential damage to the brain increases as the number of concussions increase. In the athletics, players deliver and absorb many hits to the head which a primary reason why rules and regulations at a levels of football, for example, are changing to try and decrease the number of concussions received by players and to make the game safer to those who play it. However these head injuries are not just restricted to athletics, roughly three million Americans have brain injuries every year, half of which are considered serious (Dekosky 2010). Also, many of our nation’s brave men and women suffer traumatic head injuries that take months, even years to fully recover from. Though the exact number of concussions in soldiers can be completely accurate, many army officials believe it to be around eighteen percent (Charles 2008).