Football is Not Safe for Children The clock is ticking down and the score is close. Students in the bleachers roar with excitement as they hear helmets clashing on the field. A player falls down to the ground, and the medics rush onto the field. The once loud stadium is brought to silence with what could have been a “deadly” hit. Some boys are out on the field to have a good time, but other players are playing to hurt and demolish their opponents. This is when the reality of how safe a player actually is comes into play. While children play football becoming overheated, broken bones, and head injuries are major concerns as to why football should be considered an unsafe sport. In the first place, hydration is key with any physical activity …show more content…
While the sport takes skill and strategy to play, there is also a mentality to “do whatever it takes” to win. With the risks of dehydration, a hospital visit is not uncommon. Regarding the risks of breaking young bones, a hospital visit is not uncommon. After children hit each others bodies at full force gaining a concussion, a hospital visit is not uncommon. Children playing football has a high risk of incurring a visit to the hospital. After taking a step back from the sport, parents need to consider if a night out on the football field is really worth the health of their child. Children can go from playing their hearts out under the lights on the field to laying still on a gurney as the florescent lights in the hospital ceiling shine over them. Most parents goals are to keep their child safe as they raise them. Parents technically have eighteen years to make all decisions for their child, and why would parents purposely put their children in harms way when it could be avoided? At the age of eighteen, the child's brain is almost developed, and they can make their own decisions in their life. Until this age, the parents should consider the effects football has on their child's body before sending them out into harm's way - as if sending them out to play in
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.
Children who are active recklessly engage in activities where injuries can occur. Nobody can predict when or how seriously anybody will get injured during an activity, however, the risks of children playing tackle football is prevalent where the dangers are imminent. The game of tackle football on a youth level is dangerous for children since they are developing physically and mentally. According to an article from The Atlantic, “America’s most dangerous football is in the peewee leagues, not the National Football League” (Barra, 2013). According to a journal article, “sports injuries account for approximately 23% of pediatric emergency department injury related visits” (Podberesky, Unsell & Anton, 2009). “Of these sports injury-related
This paper attempts to rationalize youth football as a sport by discussing the pros and cons in order to argue that youth should be allowed to play the game of football if they so choose. To do so, this paper will explore the ethical arguments and considerations of parents, young athletes, medical professionals and social media.
Since football’s inception, it has been considered a manly sport. Young boys have been encouraged by their parents to participate in the game. For many boys, it is considered a rite of passage. However, football is a dangerous sport. A study conducted by the Center for Injury Research and Policy found, “an estimated 5.25 million football-related injuries among children and adolescents between 6 and 17 years of age were treated in U.S. emergency departments between 1990 and 2007. The annual number of football-related injuries increased 27 percent during the 18-year study period, jumping from 274,094 in 1990 to 346,772 in 2007” (Nation 201). These reported injuries include sprains and strains, broken bones, cracked ribs, torn ligaments, and concussions. A concussion usually happens when a player takes a hard hit to the head or is knocked unconscious on the playing field, and if not diagnosed and treated quickly, a concussion can result in death.
In fact it is more likely than not that player will get injured playing sports. Players suffer sprained ankles, bruises, broken bones and concussions. It is part of the game, an unfortunate likelihood. Sports in itself is dangerous and football is amongst the top of the list in terms of danger. It is up to the parents to decide whether or not it is a risk that they are willing to take. Does a boy channel the passion he inherited from his father to a different type of sport or activity? Does a parent pull their child form the sport because of the fear of injury? The fact remains that football needs changes to make it
High school football may be dangerous but it is also a life altering experience. From what these boys can do out on the field to what they can become in life and all the things they can accomplish, putting it in peoples head that it is a dangerous sport is ridiculous. Yes, football can cause some serious injury but those chances aren’t very high and what are these boys going to get out of life if they never take that risk? Then end up asking themselves, “what if?” These boys should not let anything get in the way of what they want to do because even if they fail
Putting them through possible head trauma so early in life while their brains are still working on developing could cause irreparable damage. There have been studies proving the change in children’s brains before and after concussions. When a brain is changing due to constant trauma, that should be a red flag for parents. According to the director of Marist College’s Center for Sports Communication, Keith Studler, trying to teach complex plays is absurd, since young children barely understand simple concepts. For young kids with developing minds and bodies, moving and exploring should come before memorizing playbooks. Starting them young may result in the child having bad form and skill, due to the fact that they are just trying to hit people, and not actually learning how to play the game correctly and safely. Studler also stated that the sport teaches kids to act rough and selfish, as well as that masculinity is strength, while femininity is cheering from the sidelines. He added that older players may be able to separate the sport from life that's not as easy for the younger
“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.
Every sport has its tricks and ways of doing things the right way. You can assure anyone that the sport their child is playing is safe, because there is always a stronger, bigger, faster player than them. Personally, I believe football is a demanding sport that requires a lot of strength, and stamina. If you read the article “Hard Knocks” by Alan Schwarz, it gives a brief story about a young football player. “The autopsy showed that his brain was in the early stage of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, more commonly known as C.T.E.” Many football players die from this condition.
One of the biggest controversial topics going on today is should children still be aloud to play football, knowing what we know about serious injuries? The article that I chose ( “Don’t Let Kids play football”) is about the consequences that could occur playing such a contact sport. The debate is that some people believe that football teaches important life lessons and others believe that it can cause serious life changing injuries.
Football, just another method to throw life away. Football is an extremely unsafe sport, yet it is glorified by several in the United States. A plethora of football players are impacted negatively by injuries that may occur just by playing an "innocent" little game of tackle football. It is necessary to consider all the dreadful outcomes that may happen before taking the chance to play. Young individuals shouldn't play tackle football due to the trauma it can cause to the brain, the injuries or occurrences that can lead to a harder life or even death, and it leaves the players to be less sharp in their old age. It is often thought that football is a harmless game for kids to enjoy. Nevertheless, the amount of health issues and injuries that can be caused by football is unbelievable and not worth the risk.
From long practice hours, hot summer workouts, and many Friday nights, my personal observation of this dangerous sport is exceptionally prevalent. My initial experience of the damage that football brings came my eighth grade year when I witnessed a senior football player on my team try and eat a phone on the ride home after receiving a concussion in the third quarter of the game. Which is a prime example to defend the fact that football related injuries to the head result in people not “being all there.” Not only have I seen someone try and eat a phone, but I have also witnessed head injuries resulting in my own friend randomly yelling at me after a game for no reason, and also a friend trying to jump down a full flight of stairs thinking he was starring in a movie. The fast paced, high intensity contact that comes with playing football is nothing to think flippantly of when it plays a role on brain trauma, and the results of brain trauma.
In stadiums, parks and fields all across America, many youth participate in a journey through defeat, heartbreak, hard work, and success. Practicing for hours, rain or shine, to be able to snag that game winning touchdown in the back of the endzone. Although football comes with many risks and dangers, I strongly believe that kids and teens should be allowed to play football because it promotes leadership, teamwork, and requires significant amounts of exercise and cardiovascular activity, and other contact sports are just as dangerous.
Bounteous doctors, trainers, and even N.F.L players also believe is dangerous to play. Countless of people usually won’t want to play a dangerous sport, but countless are coming up with ideas to lower the risk and cause football to be safer to play. As explained in “How dangerous is high school football?” football is the highest leading cause of sport-related injuries. Secondly, teens are more vulnerable to receiving concussions from playing football. Furthermore, N.F.L players that have had concussions has made people worry about teen football players head injuries. The copious amount will suggest football is dangerous, but there are doctors, trainers, even N.F.L
Football is a relatively dangerous sport. In the game, the whole body is open to taking shots from opposing teams every play, but the most dangerous area to be hit is the head. Hits that lead to players having their heads