Persuasive Essay: Should Children Play Tackle Football?

Should Children Play Tackle Football?

“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,

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

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