Should My Child Be Playing Dangerous Sports?

Concussions occur on a large scale in football. During a concussion, the head can experience a blow directly or can have whiplash. When the head is hit, the brain hits the inside of the skull, giving it a temporary bruise. This bruise or tearing of the brain can lead to mental impairments that can affect a person’s emotional state of being, physical problems like deteriorated mobility and sensitivity to light and sound. Doctors are quick to point out one of the major reasons that youth receive concussions, saying, “... children have big heads relative to the rest of their bodies and weak necks… that elevates the risk of concussions,” (P6). Along with a lack of education and care for the protection of athletes, youth are already at a huge risk. When children wear their football helmets, they are saving themselves from many injuries that could have occurred without them, most especially protecting the brain. But, in many cases, this is not enough.

We have all heard of the term “sports injury”. Usually an accident that occurs when engaged in a sport, the ideal can apply from something as frustrating as a rolled ankle to the more debilitating shock of a broken arm. Yet the fact remains that these physical ailments will heal, and properly, if they are treated properly. But what about concussions? What are the long term effects? In her brief editorial in TIME magazine, Alexandra Sifferlin explores the effects of concussions and specifically how they affect children if they aren't disclosed.

Concussion injuries frequently occur in the United States affecting young children, teens, collegiate, and professional athletes. According to the Journal of School Health, “Concussions remain a serious public health concern as approximately 1.6 to 3.8 million sports-related concussions are estimated to occur each year” (Covassin, Elbin, and Sarmiento, 2012). Public health is bringing

Concussions in sports have become a very popular issue in the past century. Athletes are becoming bigger, faster, stronger, and more aggressive. With this, though, comes more injuries as a whole and injuries that are more dangerous as well. Parents, coaches, fans, and athletes have become more aware of how dangerous concussions can be and what effect they can have on an individual throughout the rest of their life. Many advancements and changes have been made in an attempt to keep athletes and players safer and more protected. Some individuals believe parents, coaches, and trainers are becoming overly protective and are ruining the entertainment of the game and the competitiveness of the players. Any sort of traumatic brain injury can have many effects on the individual; there are short-term, medium-term, and long-term consequences of concussions that can continue affecting the individual for fourteen years after he or she has suffered the head injury. Although many advancements have been made and preventing concussions has become a priority in the ‘sports-world,’ authority figures and athletes still ignore the symptoms of concussions to allow the athlete to continue to participate. However, in order to continue the entertainment that sporting events bring fans and the enjoyment that they bring to the participants, more precautions should be made to keep the players on the field and in good health.

Concussions in youth sports has recently became more popular in the news. Mukand and Serra recently discovered, “about 1.6- 3.8 million sports-related concussions occur every year, and a recent study found that 182,000 football players may sustain at least one concussion annually in youth (99,000), high school (76,640), and NCAA football programs (3,905), or about 1 in 30 players and 1 in 14 high school players” (16). The amount of concussions should be alarming to athletes and the parents. Hospitals have noticed a growing number of visits from children and young adults with concussions because of sports, but it is unclear if the rise is due to more concussions or more reports due to better awareness of concussions (Mitka 1775-1776). Concussions could be on the rise or more people are recognizing the symptoms of concussions and then reporting them. Either way, concussions in youth sports need to be reduced or completely eliminated. Sports related concussions in youth can be prevented with proper education and technique. Efficient and reliable equipment and better rules and regulations in youth sports can also prevent concussions and brain injuries in youth and adolescents.

With the growth of contact sports, such as football, hockey and wrestling, neurologists have seen a shocking rise in the number of reported concussions. Perhaps the greatest increase of SRCs have been seen in adolescents participating in organized team sports. In a 10-year span, emergency department visits for 8 to 13-year-old children doubled, while 14 to 19-year-olds nearly tripled (McCrea, Nelson and Janecek, 2014). The actual number of these concussions are thought to be higher than reported because the inclination of athletes to not recognize this injury.

There are a lot of social views on concussions and different opinions as to how to care for children who may have received concussions and how this has changed dramatically over the last few years. One example of this is when playing football 10 years ago if we got a concussion we sat out for an hour and then jumped back into practice unless we were throwing up with a class III concussion. Now any risk of concussion children are being forced out of the game for upwards of two weeks. According to the NCAA guidelines

In the interview video “Concussion hazards in youth football” by Dr. Drew and Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Dr. Sanjay Gupta states, “ When young kids get a concussion a few times the brain damage can become a long term effect for them.” This quote reveals that these kids that are playing football and getting concussion can have long term effects that can ruin their future and their career. Every year at least 3.8 million concussions occur in sports. That is a large number of people, getting brain damage. After a few concussion your brain takes a little bit longer to heal since it has been hurt many times. These concussion can even lead to fatal

Many kids around the country are not playing sports due to concussions. “Recurrent concussions to several high-profile athletes, some of whom were forced into retirement as a result, have increased awareness among sports medicine personnel and the general public.” as posted by http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC522153/. Parents are concerned about their child's safety in sports. All

Sports are the main cause of concussions, but someone can get a concussion anytime and anywhere.” You don't have to be tackled by a 350-pound lineman to injure your brain,"” says Brent Masel, M.D., medical director of the Brain Injury Association of America. (Beil) Parents are now trying to keep their children from playing sports until they’re eighteen. Some people think that forcing athletes to stop playing sports will stop concussions. People should learn how to prevent and how to take care of one, instead of not doing what they love. It is important to understand what a concussion is and how we can determine the state of the problem.

The purpose of the study is to bring awareness about the seriousness of concussion injuries. Examining the severity of high school athletes who suffered sport related concussions is critical to determine the short term/long term damaging effects. When athletes’ concussions go undiagnosed, the risk of further damages increases since they are not fully recovered. This means that athletes will return to participation unknowingly since the injury goes undetected. In addition, when parents, coaches, doctors, and athletes are aware about the dangers of concussions, they can have a conversation and discuss the best options to ensure the safety of athletes. This means that injured athletes will not be allowed to participate under any

Professional and amateur sports in the United States are big money. It is big money for the teams and the companies manufacturing sports equipment and clothing. It is also a literal headache for many participants. Sports concussions that occur frequently have terrible outcomes. We live in a sports oriented culture, which promotes a hard-nose on field mentality. Athletes learn early on to not report injuries or to play through an injury, especially an injury causing problems with mental processes. This denial has dangerous consequences. The attitude begins with youth sports and is reinforced by parents and society. For the past twenty years, reevaluation of sports-related concussions has become a real and pressing need. This interest has

In recent years an abundance of brain injury research has provided evidence of the lifelong impairments affecting children who have sustained a sports related concussion. Although the information on and how to prevent sports related concussions have been distributed among both athletic coaches, faculty and parents alike, sports related concussions often go unreported. Lack of proper education has lead parents and coaches to believe sports related concussions as being “minor injuries” (Macdonald).

In the article “I’m refusing to let my son play football, and you should too” by Doree Lewak, when she was talking to Dyan Hes, a mom who will not be letting her son play tackle football, she wrote “‘My biggest fear is that he will get a concussion, and it will interfere with his brain development, his studies and his enjoyment of other sports,’ says Hes.” Hes has feared what most would rather not think about: what will happen when the child plays. Concussions happen more often than not in a sport like football, and the child will have to live with the trauma for the rest of their life. In the article “Why Do We Let Kids Play Tackle Football?” by Stefan Fatsis, he wrote “…there’s already data that shows the effect of tackle football on undeveloped brains, like a study released this year by researchers at Virginia Tech and Wake Forest that found that 7-year-old players absorb impacts on par with those in college football.” In children, that kind of impact is definitely life threatening. When a young child gets injured in the head, the injury can hinder their growth of the child’s brain, and that child’s future will not be as great as it could have been. To guarantee a child a safe and healthy future, they must not play

In recent studies, it has been found that concussions resulting from athletics are becoming increasingly dangerous while at the same time given less consideration. Sports related mild traumatic brain injuries in children have increased by sixty percent in the last decade. Approximately 173,285 cases of mild traumatic brain injuries relating to sports are treated each year in U.S. emergency departments (CDC).