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With the death of Junior Seau, and numerous reports of major brain injuries among other players, would you still be willing to allow your child to play football?
All three of my boys played, but two of them quit after breaking bones as sophomores. The third one played all 4 years of high school, and loved it.
He never had a concussion, but quite possibly caused a few.
Do the benefits of playing outweigh the risks? I realize most young kids will not be hurt, the danger is more apparent in high school and beyond. Of course, if the kids don't play early, there would be a ripple affect all the way up to the pros.
A lot of people don't think kids should even start:
Probably not. I think the risk of injuries are really high and I don't see any benefits from football that could not be had in another, less dangerous sport.
My grandson played football as a freshman last year -- his first year. He was really looking forward to it, got individual training throughout the summer months and was one of the biggest and best on his team. He was loving it, but then he got a concussion mid-way through the season and had to sit it out for a few weeks.
I'm sure he'll be back at it next fall, as it's been the one aspect of school that he's really enjoyed in 10 years. But it scares me, and if it was up to me I don't think I'd allow it. He suffered from shaken baby syndrome as an infant (apparently from sitter but never proven), so I consider this his second concussion.
I have two who play. One is only 8 and really good at it. He loves it, and I could not imagine making him stop. The older one plays in high school.
This is how we look at it: Several years ago my grandmother slipped on some water on the floor in her kitchen, hit her head on the counter and got a concussion. No one saw that coming, and she certainly wasn't wearing protective gear.
My boys still want to play, and we do everything we can to prevent injury ... including pray. But they should not have to live their lives NOT doing stuff because something bad might happen.
So we live in the pnw where football isn't a big deal but I have a lot of fears about skiing which statistically has even more head injuries and everybody here skies or snowboards. We've decided to hold our breath and let the kids do it with helmets. It's a hard decision and I totally understand both sides.
Incidently I read somewhere that the high school sport with the most hospitalizations is cheer leading.
The brain studies they have been doing on young football players have been frightening. They have shown that you do not even need to be getting obvious concussions to suffer brain damage while playing football. The repetitive blows to the head during tackles alter the brain. I would never allow a child to play football for this reason.
The brain studies they have been doing on young football players have been frightening. They have shown that you do not even need to be getting obvious concussions to suffer brain damage while playing football. The repetitive blows to the head during tackles alter the brain. I would never allow a child to play football for this reason.
Hmm. I'm guessing the constant tackling is why this isn't a common problem with hockey players. They get head injuries often, too. I've also heard that helmets are actually bad because it makes people play rougher, causing more head injuries. I really hope my future kids don't want to play football, and we live in an area where playing football (especially among kids) is not common.
The brain studies they have been doing on young football players have been frightening. They have shown that you do not even need to be getting obvious concussions to suffer brain damage while playing football. The repetitive blows to the head during tackles alter the brain. I would never allow a child to play football for this reason.
That article was a real eye-opener. I wonder what reports like this will do to change the football obsessed culture. It's very prevalent here in the south. I like to watch the game, but the real risk of permanent injury isn't worth it to me.
One of my boys played for his college rugby team. He was smart enough to quit after two relatively minor concussions. That game is played without any head protection at all. But, even with helmets, the researchers are finding major brain injuries in high school football players on up.
I'm so glad my son was not interested in sports. We tried soccer when he was little but he stayed sick the entire time with respiratory problems so we nixed that.
Anyone can look at Casius Clay- oops my age is showing- Mohamed Ali and see what happens to boxers. Why would anyone let their kid get into such a dangerous sport?
Frankly I think a lot of football is the Dad's living vicariously through their sons. Its just plain wrong.
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