Tackle Football Anyway Summary

In this paragraph I’ll tell you about the pros of playing contact sports. It’s no fun without head butting the ball in soccer or tackling someone in foot ball to obtain the ball or checking someone to score a goal in hockey. Most contact sports related injuries are very minor. Rarely do the major injuries occur. WebMD states “Kids who play contact sports should be moderated and not go to crazy. Your child can avoid these injuries if they take some precautions while playing.” Without checking someone in hockey or tackling someone in football that games would become much boring for the audience and the players. Contact sports are also good if you want to learn how to become a better athlete. In the big leagues and in college contact sports you do tackle and check. It’s better to learn these tactics when you are younger so you can become better are them when you are older. Contact sports should be played by kids 14 and under because the dangers and risks are very rare and often do not occur.

Is tackle football too dangerous for kids who aren’t even fully developed? Back then, when it came to sports, safety was never one of the main concerns. For example, baseball was played for over half a century without requiring helmets. Recently, society has started to worry about future generations and whether some activities will have long-lasting effects on them, such as football. Although many are advocates for safety, others are arguing that kids should be able to play what they want. While tackle football has been proven to be detrimental to the youth’s health, especially for children under the age of 13, critics have questioned and discussed whether other sports are going to be next and how they can possibly prevent football’s future modifications.

​Another reason, and perhaps the most pertinent, as to why youth tackle football should be banned is because it puts young kids at risk for a plethora of injuries – some of which have the potential to affect them for the rest of their lives. As stated earlier in this paper, a total of 1.23 million youth ages 6-12 played tackle football in 2015 (Farrey, 2016). In 2007, more than 920,000 athletes under the age of 18 were treated in emergency rooms, doctors’ offices, and clinics for football-related injuries, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (Levine, Owens, 2016). Ten years later, that number has since doubled and continues to slowly increase. Some of the most common injuries seen in youth football include traumatic knee injuries such as ACL/PCL tears and damage to the cartilage of the knee, shoulder injuries such as damage to the cartilage surrounding the socket of the shoulder, concussions, back pain from overuse, and heat stroke, and complications related to dehydration (Levine, Owens, 2016). Many youth football players also must deal with broken bones and torn ligaments (Levine, Owens, 2016). With the amount of injuries these young athletes are at risk of getting, it’s amazing that parents even let their children play football at all (Levine, Owens, 2016). Although

Statsky specifies that sports played from six to twelve years of age could have long-term negative and degrading effects in terms of health and the interest and attitude towards the sport for the child as both a player and a fan. Statsky states many reasons for her opinion, which include the risk for physical and psychological harm, and parents who are more worried about their child winning rather than participating in the game. In my opinion, I agree with the argument made by the author that competitive sports encourage children to engage in physical actions. Some of the sports activities are most thrilling and energetic. Players, driven by the desire to win are likely to act in a careless way causing physical injuries. Hence, young children are at great risk of sustaining injuries in the course of competitive sports. Though in football injuries are common, instances of injuries for 12 year olds are severe since the body structure of these children has not developed fully. Competitive sports have two results, either a loser or a

12 years old children should not be able to play tackle football because “The brain is going through this incredible time of growth between the years of 10 and 12, and if you subject that developing brain to repetitive head impacts, it may cause problems later in life". The human brain develops rapidly at young ages, especially between 10 and 12, children should not play tackle football until their teenage years. According to paragragh 20 in the last line it state that "children that are under 12 been banging thier heads n getting injure when

Despite such an increased concern for this topic many people are aware of the possible implications of placing their children in football or playing the game themselves yet they still continue to do so. Many players are told from a young age to simply be tough and suck it up, “[…] youth profess that the game and the team are more important than their individual health and they may play through a concussion to avoid letting down their teammates, coaches, schools and parents” (Breslow,

Recent research found that when children who play football and other contact sports suffer repeated jolts to the head, it can cause lasting damage to the developing brain. That can be true even when kids do not suffer any concussions. This was startling news, given that Pee Wee and Pop Warner players sustain from 240 to 585 head hits per season between ages 9 and 12, a critical period of brain development. As a result, some prominent voices have urged parents not to let their kids play the game, among them neuropathologist Bennet Omalu, whose discovery of the progressive brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in former NFL players is depicted in the film Concussion. Omalu contends that children under 18 should not be allowed to risk their future by playing football. "Our children are minors who have not reached the age of consent," he says. A growing number of athletes now agree, including the hard-nosed former NFL tight end and coach

Many parents encourage their children to find a hobby. When a parent hears that their child wants to start playing football, they might get excited, knowing that their child found something they are interested in and maybe even meet some new friends. Coaches and the NFL will tell you it's a great career choice but according to the new concussion guidelines, the short term effects, like second impact syndrome, and the long-term effects, like CTE, tell you something different. If you look into it, you see that the evidence is stating that you should not let your children play football.

The safety of young football players for years has been a long growing concern and controversy for parents, players, high school coaches and school officials, and as well as NFL coaches and medical professionals in America. Parents worry about their children getting injured or concussions during the game. Furthermore, many parents believe that football can be safer and that the organization of football is not doing enough to protect players and their safety. However, to some football players concussions are not a big issue. Some players are too worried about their playing time to realize the consequences of getting concussions repeatedly. Therefore, some football players do not tell the coaches about their concussions. In addition, coaches also have a problem with the safety of football affecting their programs. Some coaches fear that football programs will shut down because of the controversy of how football can lead to brain damage. Besides parents, players, and coaches, doctors have a big say in the controversy. Neurologists, who are specialists in the disorders of nerves and the nervous system, have recently studied the link between football and brain damage. According to Jacob Vanlandingham, who is the founder and president of Prevacus Incorporated, a company who primarily studies concussions, said that “Doctors diagnose approximately 67,000 concussions in high school football players every year” (Vanlandingham, p.1). Nevertheless, some stakeholders, including ex-football players, believe that everything has already been done to make football as safe as possible. Football organizations have made new rules and placed new programs in order to keep young players healthy and to keep football programs from shutting down. The big controversial question that all stakeholders are asking is, “Is football doing enough to protect young children?”

Every parent’s greatest fear is that his child would experience a life-changing injury or even death. What if parents realized that allowing a child to play football might be the cause of such a life-altering injury? Children should not play football because it is known to cause concussions, concussions are damaging, and the equipment isn’t good enough.

If you do not play super cautiously, you can easily make one mistake and suffer concussions, brain damage, limb damage, and overall destruction to the body. Because of this, we see that football can completely ruin your life. In the first source, “Hard Knocks”, the article showcases a real life example of a boy who, when playing football, hit heads with another individual with a lot of strength. He sustained a concussion, and still to this day, he suffers headaches, memory problems, and so much more. In the video, “Concussion Hazards in Youth Football”, the video shows how the brain is affected when a concussion occurs. Also, it presents how the youth are more capable of sustaining permanent brain damage when hard hits on the head occur. In the last source, “How Many G’s?”, an infographic shows the real dangers of a football hit, when compared to a heavyweight boxers punch, and the force from a roller coaster on the body! Together, all three sources show that football is a highly competitive sport that can tarnish someone’s whole life plan in a couple of

One reason greater precautions are necessary is because young athletes’ brains are not fully developed, and a concussion can cause long-term damage. In the article “BU Study Links Youth Football,

“Why Parents Should Let Their Kids Play Dangerous Sports” is a persuasive essay written by Jeb Golinkin expressing the risks and injuries that occur in many sports. However, Golinkin also expresses the necessity of sports and how they help teach teamwork, sportsmanship, toughness, and competiveness only learned from collective team sports. “…Powerful athletic enterprises has very real costs for the participants who deliver the thrills” (Paragraph 2, Line 7-8) is part of a statement from Golinkin where he is establishing that injuries are a fact when participating in sports. He states a couple of particular events in the history of sports where injuries have caused permanent injuries and even death. The cases of serious injuries were expressed and had heartfelt concern behind them in his report, however, he defends these dangerous sports by further stating benefits that are gained from participation. There is a quote from Barack Obama where he expresses his a strong opinion on football by saying, “If I had a son, I’d have to think long and hard before I let him play football.” (Paragraph 6, Line 2-3) Golinkin finalizes his opinion in his conclusion by explaining that he believes one’s child should be able to make their own decision to play sports.

Football is often labeled as a dangerous, unsafe sport, but there are many good things that come along with playing football. In the past two weeks I have learned about the risks that accompany football. Many kids suffer with concussions and face injuries from the sport, which scares many people away. But, despite the risks and the unsafe label, I would allow my child to play football because it promotes health, builds friendships, and helps gain toughness.

hergenroeder says injuries in sports also include psychological injury as well. Young athletes should play sports for self enjoyment and to boost self-esteem and improve athletic skills. If these are not priorities in youth sports then participation in sports are potentially harmful by decreasing self-esteem, diminishing athletic skills, and discouraging additional participation in sports. Pediatricians should be aware of potential psychological issues within a young athlete and provide guidance to address them. Albert also says pediatricians should always be involved in providing medical care for children and adolescents when these patients are injured in sports participation. Albert says the overall goal of his article was to increase competency of pediatricians in sports medicine care, specificaly prevention of sports related injuries. Overall Phsycological issues should be looked at carefuly to prevent any future damage to the