Last week in class, we briefly talked about concussions. Below is a TED talk by a world famous neuropsychologist explaining how she would go about protecting kids.
These are the two sites that she mentions in her talk:
https://www.cdc.gov/headsup/youthsports/
http://cokidswithbraininjury.com/
What do you think? What is the best way to protect kids from getting concussions? Is forcing kids to wear helmets when they ride their bikes and play football the solution? Or should states take more drastic steps like abolishing high school football all together?
https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/friday-night-lights-out-the-case-for-abolishing-high-school-football
This week you do not have to read a specific article, or watch a designated video. Instead, I just want you to plainly state your opinion. What do you think? In your paragraph (remember at least 5 sentences), I would like you to include at least one data point to support your stance. Ideally, I would love for you to have a lively discussion between your posts and responses about what students, parents, politicians, school boards and coaches should do.
Concussions have been an ongoing problem that needs to be fixed, however it is a touchy subject on how to reduce concussions. I think forcing kids to wear helmets when their bike riding will make them restain from them later on but that's not to say they shouldn't wear them I think kids just need to be more educated on the risks of not wearing a helmet. I don't think states should abolish high school football games all together because high school football games are a huge part of the high school experience and many people will be against that ruling. In the video a statistic that stood out to me was that teens were 3x more likely to suffer catastrophic injury than college kids. I think the takeaway from this statistic is that maybe in high school people should be more cautious on preventing injury or injury in itself. Overall concussions is a problem that needs to be addressed to more people specifically teenagers.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree! It would be a whole different high school experience if there were not friday night lights and there would be too many people against taking away football all together.
DeleteAlthough I agree with what you've said, I think that kids should still be required to wear helmets when playing sports such as football. Even if kids are well educated on the risks of not wearing a helmet, this doesn't mean that they will always wear one but if there is a rule for it along with better education towards concussions then maybe more kids will.
DeleteI agree that students need to be more educated on the subject!!
DeleteI most definitely agree that state has no right to remove football, or any other sport from high school.
DeleteI agree that schools should not take away football. We just need to make it a bigger priority to teach people about the dangers of concussions and how to prevent them.
DeleteI agree, eliminating things like football games wouldn't make people stop getting concussions. Kids just need to be educated about the risks and try to prevent getting a concussion.
DeleteMy opinion on concussions is that they are obviously bad, but state should have little control over what people do. The best way to prevent kids from getting concussions is to teach them how to avoid them (like not going head first into something), and also give them the proper safety gear (in general really just a helmet). I would say that state has the right to make kids wear safety gear particularly a helmet, but they have no right to try and ban a sport from high school or anywhere else. I also believe that the state has the right to enforce kids to get checked for concussions occasionally, as many concussions go undetected, although I do not have a piece of evidence I do have prior knowledge about this statement. I would also say though that the state should provide resources for parents to look at to understand risks of the sports their kids will play, and in turn it would be the parents job to decide the actions they will take to protect their child(ren).
ReplyDeleteI agree with you because I also feel that educating people on the safety precautions is more beneficial than just getting rid of the entire activity.
DeleteConcussions
ReplyDeleteConcussions are not treated as a severe injury unless loss of consciousness occurs, but there can be very severe effects if not treated properly. All concussions are serious and need to be taken seriously. Retired NFL players in their 40s and 50s are already showing signs of dementia from multiple concussions. Since there is a greater risk of getting concussions after getting the first one, prevention is key. A bike helmet can cut the impact in half, making it very important to wear a helmet . My opinion on this is more money needs to be used for good protective gear in sports. After every hard blow helmets lose their effectiveness, so more new helmets should be purchased. Coaches should also be required to take a class or read something that further explains concussions with things like symptoms, warning signs, prevention and how long until they can play again. Kids recovering from concussions should be informed too. After 4 concussions an athlete should be required to quit/ retire early because of the long term effects of multiple concussions. Overall, more steps, education and even laws should be put into concussions.
Kathleen,
DeleteAll high school coaches (even golf) have to take a concussion class.
It is hard for me to make an opinion on this topic. My brother has had so many concussions to the point where he has permanent brain damage all from wrestling and playing football, but maybe we just weren’t paying enough attention. One time he passed out during wrestling practice after getting a blow to the head, so they dragged him to sit against the wall and didn’t contact a trainer and didn’t even pay attention to him. The next day he was complaining that he had a headache but he insisted he go to practice anyways and then the same thing happened as the day before. I personally believe that yes, the sports are all very dangerous but if we take one sport away, we might as well take all activities away. I got a concussion in cross country once, someone fell of the stage and got a concussion during middle school. The woman in the video only mentioned football, but she didn’t touch much on the biking incidents. They have created special football helmets with more padding,why not just require students to wear those? Have students take concussion baseline tests. Trainers, referees, and coaches should take a course on identifying concussions. Have parents sign waivers so that they know what their kid is getting into. I do believe we should work on making the sport safer for the children, but abolishing it is unnecessary.
ReplyDeleteI agree that all activities are equally important for students, and they should not be eliminated just have more protection. Since you made it clear that concussions are a possibility in any activity, the necessary measure of reducing the rate of concussions would be to augment the level of protection of our athletes.
DeleteI agree, especially about coaches and referees taking courses on identifying concussions to prevent any further damages. More money needs to be put in to good protection gear rather than abolish every activity that could possibly lead to a concussion.
DeleteI Personally think that taking precautions such as wearing helmets, knee pads, and other safety gear can be beneficial. It mostly just depends on what activity you are participating in. I think that more extreme things like football, skiing, snowboarding, etc. should be done with some form of head gear for safety.There are about 1.2 million football-related injuries per year, making it more dangerous than most other sports. This is why people in these types of sports should have safety gear. Then there are the other sports, like track/cross country, basketball, biking, etc. For things like this, safty gear is not that necessary. I have the same view for concussion testing. If it is a more dangerous sport, I think it is necessary. On the other hand, less dangerous sports don't need concussion testing. The only time that I think that these sports should have concussion testing, is when someone has had previous head trauma.
ReplyDeleteErik,
DeleteAre you in favor of eliminating high school football?
I think that rather than seeing a problem, like very high numbers of concussions in children and simply saying “let's just get rid of all the dangers and create a little bubble wrapped world for our kids” we should instead say “what we are doing is no longer working and we need to find a new way to protect our children, without depriving them of basic experiences like going to a high school football game”. I think the solution lies in preventive care, like helmets. Presently they leave much to be desired and while they may stand up to a biking accident they have nothing against a 200 pound lineman. Perhaps if we put more money into developing these new, more effective helmets instead of new stadiums this problem would shrink considerably. If state legislators mandate that every two to three years a certain percentage of a high school football program’s budgets must be devoted to new equipment, then you would create a new demand for better helmet technology prompting developers to create these new better helmets. Thus decreasing the risk of concussions and all the problems that come with them without the need for drastic changes to society's mainframe through the deletion of high school football.
ReplyDeleteI love the way you worded this, Clare!!
DeleteI agree, we need to ask ourselves how to fix the problem, and not eliminate it.
DeleteConcussions are becoming more and more common as the years go on. It is estimated that there are “1.6-3.8 million” sport related concussions in the United States per year. I do not feel that just doing concussion testing is enough to lower the amount of concussions completely. There needs to be other rules to be made and higher calls from the refs in the games. By this, I mean there needs to be stricter rules put in place and the refs have to be very aware on what fouls need to be called. Also another rule could be once you get a certain amount of concussions, you should not be able to play that certain sport, people may say that is unfair, but you do not want to mess with your brain it is the most important organ in your body. I do not think taking away certain sports such as football all together is the solution. Just the rules need to change, but if the guardian is okay with their child to play the sport, they should be able to do so.
ReplyDeleteGrace,
DeleteWhat about soccer? Do you think the rules should change in soccer to protect against concussions?
Concussions are certainly a serious issue that we should be continually addressing as it will always be a major factor in high-impact sports, and sustaining multiple could be disastrous. Although, I don’t believe that eliminating these sports is a solution. This “solution” seems to be the easy way out, and with that said I don’t think that we’ve been focusing on this for nearly enough time. Personally, I don’t really feel that the government cares enough to do much about it, and that doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon, and so removing the problem completely seems to be their only idea. I believe that the next step in fighting this problem is for the NFL to work more intimately with science. Sports are constantly changing, as is science and together the two could potentially bring new factors to the table. America loves their high-impact sports too much for the government to simply eradicate them. Who knows what that would ensue? Not to mention that getting rid of the sport wouldn’t solve the problem in any way. In fact, by keeping it would allow us to continue studying the long-term effects of concussions therefore furthering our understanding of them, and how could we deny ourselves that opportunity? Kim Gorgens said herself that we don’t know a whole lot about concussions. Besides, football isn’t the only way to get a concussion, and without the sport it may become extremely difficult to continually study the injury. While it’s hard to say what exactly to do at this very moment to make high-impact sports safer, we have to start somewhere and working with science is the way to go.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. We should try to fix this issue in a way that doesn't totally eradicate high-contact sports using science
DeleteWhile there is no need to completely abolish football in high schools to reduce the rate of concussions, there is a need to enforce safety and to prevent these injuries by wearing helmets. A person’s risk of getting more severe head injuries increases each time they get one, and there is a long term impact on the brain from repeated injuries. The video stated that just wearing a helmet alone reduces the G force of the impact by half. No helmet is completely concussion-free, but they can prevent serious brain injury. Wearing a helmet has priceless effects on a person’s life, and it could mean the difference between having a memory at age forty; like so many football players are without. Playing football in high school is an awesome way for the athletes to be involved in, and for them to take pride in their school. If football games were eliminated due to fear of injuries, then football players, band members, cheerleaders and pommies would not have events to participate in at their schools. Even so, these athletes still need to think about their futures and protect their brains as often as possible.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree, if we were to take away high school football, other sports and activities would also be let down. Maybe they should just be more careful.
DeleteI agree, we shouldn't abolish high school football we should pressure schools and organisations to provide better protection for their sports players.
DeleteI watched the TED Talk video and I believe that we shouldn't take "drastic steps" like abolishing football because when a kid signs up for football, he knows what he is getting himself into. With anything that you do, there are going to be the "what ifs" like what if my child gets a concussion. It should be up to the child and parent to see if they still want to participate in these activities because there's a chance of being concussed. What many people don't know is that cycling causes more concussions than football but nobody is going to get rid of cycling because people know the dangers of it. Although, people should be educated so they know the dangers of things like cycling or football if they aren't careful. I believe education would be more beneficial than just getting rid of the sport or activity in general because no matter what, there's always a risk.
ReplyDeleteI agree that kids know what a possible injury could be but they are willing to take that risk to do something they love.
DeleteI also think that pulling kids out of sports to protect them from hypothetical situations is excessive; with kids playing sports, we just need proper safety precautions.
DeleteI think that there should be more rules to wearing helmets when playing sports or participating in potentially dangerous physical activities. I’m sure that not all young kids know the risks of not wearing a helmet so that is one of the reasons why they don’t. I feel like if there are rules to wearing a helmet and kids are educated on concussions and the importance of head protection then this will prevent more concussions from happening. If kids feel that they have the option whether or not to wear a helmet at home or when riding a bike then they may want to seem cool or be more “risky” when with other friends and not wear one. High school football is a dangerous sport and that is just the nature of it, maybe that is why Americans love it so much because of the danger and the intensity but I don’t think that there is any way to make the game any safer without stopping it as a whole. What is football if players aren’t rough with each other? According to Headcasecompany.com “33% of all sports concussions happen at practice.” I think that students need to understand the importance of wearing a helmet at practice as well as during games and still be careful all the time.
ReplyDeleteYeah when you said that what if football players aren't rough with eachother, I was thinking the same thing. I constantly see football players butt heads and I guess in the moment it feels good to do or something, I'm don't really sure, but coaches should punish players whenever they butt heads at practice to prevent some of the injuries that are occurring.
DeleteI totally agree with you more rules need to be put into place to protect kids.
DeleteConcussions need to be taken more seriously and more safety rules need to be made. It's scary to think about that kids are age are three more times likely to get a concussion, and it's usually from physical sports. Sports like football in my opinion, though fun, it not worth the damage it does to your brain. Memory loss is a serious thing, and I know this from people in my family involved In memory loss. For sports like football, it is up to you to play the sport. But proper gear needs to be worn. In the TED talk it says that football players, after retired, have enormous amounts of memory loss and brain damage. I just don't think the sport it worth it. It the state can't make that decision for you. The rules should be for any sport, if you don't play safe, you shouldn't play at all. Coaches, and parents need to enforce these rules and make sure the kids aren't hurting themselves. Even if it means spending more money to make the sports safer, it's worth it. I have never personally sustained a concussion, nor has anyone in my family, but I know friends who have, and it's a serious and scary problem. Concussions need to be taken more seriously.
ReplyDeleteyour right, if people don't take this problem seriously we're never going to get anywhere in making these sports safer. it is surprising how cycling had more concussions but i suppose it makes sense because cyclers fall of their bikes all the time and usually flip over and hit their heads before the rest of their bodies hit. Its the same with football though so I guess it's the difference in speed that make the difference in concussions. But all in all, your right we do need more safety measures.
DeleteI agree that football is a dangerous sport, but to just get rid of it seems a little ridiculous.
DeleteThe only sport I do is dance and is pretty hard to get a concussion or head injury in it so I haven’t had personal experience with these issues. I believe that companies of football equipment should attempt to make safer equipment so brains don’t move around as much as they do. Coaches should not let players back into the game if they think there could be any sort of injury. In an article I read, the neurologist said that grade one concussions are mild and can be hard to recognize. If coaches notice players a little off, they should call the out. Grade one concussions consist of headaches, dizziness, and nausea and only last for about 15 minutes. Same goes for players, if they feel these symptoms, then they should tell someone. I personally don’t like football so it doesn’t really affect me if it gets abolished, but I honestly believe we should get rid of it. Even with these mild concussions, players can suffer a long term disease caused by years of exposure to multiple concussions which “can lead to certain symptoms including behavioral changes, irritability, depression, suicidal ideation or thoughts, aggressiveness, trouble concentrating and loss of higher intelligence retention” (Denner).
ReplyDeleteAs the years go on, concussions get more and more common. I think it is time to start changing this and take precaution. I don't think we necessarily need to take away high school football but maybe we should be more careful about it. Maybe we should change up the rules instead. Kids are more vulnerable to concussions than adults, and because of this, I do not think we have to take away the privileges and freedoms of being a kid. Yes, maybe be a little more careful and use a helmet while biking, but do not tell them they can’t do something they want to do. If they do get a concussion, tests show that their risk for a second injury is exponentially greater. Hopefully, if they know what caused the first concussion they will be more cautious and try not to repeat what happened. They should be more aware. So all in all, I don't think we need to fully take away high school football, but maybe we should be more cautious...with everything.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on how you said that we should educate kids more on the topic of concussions to make them more cautious of the risks. Also I agree on how we shouldn't take away high school football but instead maybe just tweak some of the rules to make them more safe.
DeleteI think that concussions are a real problem in sports and in schools. I think this most of all because it is not worth ruining your entire life just for a sport. Though I do not think that football should be banned I think that there should be more rules put into place to protect kids from injury. One way to do this is to engineer new helmets that would better protect kids from concussion or long term brain damage. In a frontline study it was shown that 79% of NFL players suffered from CTE. Though I believe that it should be your own choice to play this sport. I believe that players should be better notified of health consequences from football. And what it might do to your health.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your reasoning and I sort of said the same thing. Although I do think that the football players are already informed about the health risks of football.
DeleteI think instead of simply pulling kids out of all sports that could possibly result in concussion we should find a better way to protect our kids. We can't take away all the experiences of being a child at fear of them getting hurt. Part of life is getting hurt and having to get back up. If you pull the kids right out of these sports, all you're teaching them is when things get hard just give up. Over one million American kids play football and we can't just kick them all out. We need to find a way for them to still do what they love but also stay safe.
ReplyDeleteI agree, we just need proper safety precautions to keep them from getting seriously injured.
DeleteI think concussions are a major issue for players in sports like football and it should definitely be looked at further by scientists and engineers. Although this is a major issue, it's the players choice to join this sport and they are obligated to leave or quit at any time if they are worried of this issue. I do not think football should be banned at any level; high school, college, or the NFL. Overall football is probably one of the most watched sport and most enjoyed sport in America, and worldwide, so it wouldn't make sense to just get rid of it because of a health issue that every player is aware of. Since concussions are common to happen in football, in my opinion engineers should be working on a fix as soon as possible but to ban the sport does not seem like the right idea.
ReplyDeleteI agree. The government should make sure that people are aware of the dangers, but the choice should still be the person's.
DeleteConcussions are an major issue we have in sports today. I think that educating kids on brain injuries and providing them with the correct safety equipment at all times is the best way to prevent them. Retiring high school football would cause chaos all over America because it and the games are a key part of high school experience. I think kids in sports should regularly get tested for concussions especially if they are in a contact sport like football. Even here at central we have concussion tests you have to take to participate in sports. Overall i think everyone needs to just be more educated on how to prevent their concussions.
ReplyDeleteI agree, if high school football did not exist anymore the experience would not be the same. But I too feel like there are ways to help prevent head trauma.
DeleteObviously concussions are becoming a bigger and bigger problem and although we can't keep our everyday teen to wear a helmet we at least need to educate the importance of it. Though most concussions come from sports like football, we don't need to ban the game. Yes, we could change the rules of the game to help the safety of the player's to be more sound and that would help. But, if that happens then will the players still enjoy the game when there are changes to how it's played? And it's not worth the 50,000 people that die every year from them. Just like genetic engineering it's not our call to make, to make our teenage society to wear helmets and be careful. Sometimes in order to learn, mistakes must occur (I'm not saying that the 50,000 football players per year got what they deserved, because it wasn't fair to them or to anyone suffering form CTE). It never hurts to be careful.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I don't think football should be banned, we should make it a safer sport to play. Concussions, especially in football, are becoming more and more common nowadays, but aren't taken seriously enough. In a video we watched in class, there was a retired football player who suffered from CTE, which is basically a disease caused by long-term concussions. However, because there was no way for it to be diagnosed because it occured in the brain, no one knew he was suffering from this disease. The man killed himself because of depression caused by the disease, which could of been prevented easily. Football equipment, especially helmets, needs to be more preventative of concussions, which can cause damage even to players who are retired. Also, coaches should be more aware about concussion symptoms that their players may be experiencing.
ReplyDeleteFor obvious reasons concussions are terrible, they can cause memory loss and significant brain trauma, and we should try to avoid getting them, but I don’t think that banishing football or bike riding is the right way to go about it. Our high school years and our childhood are supposed to be fun, not spent trying to protect us from everything that could happen. Injury is unavoidable unless you live in an actual bubble, so should we take steps to try to avoid it? Of course we should take preventative measures, such as wearing helmets (which according to Kim Gorgens reduces the amount of impact by half) or getting tested for a concussion. Even Kim knows that as much as she wants to protect her child she isn’t going to let her kid miss out on the joys of childhood, she is just going to make sure she does everything she can to protect him while he does what he loves. So yes concussions are scary and have terrible repercussions but missing out because something COULD happen is not a way to live.
ReplyDeleteConcussions are not an uncommon thing; however, we still have not fully figured out how to prevent them from happening. I think something we can do is to teach kids at an early age to wear proper gear and protection. About 18% of sports related concussions are from cycling, compared to 9% from football, yet some schools want to ban football. You can get a concussion from just about any physical activity you do, so if you were to get rid of football to prevent concussions, you may as well get rid of every activity. I think the reason people want to ban football is because it’s a very popular sport, and is an event at schools where almost every student attends, so that means that injuries that occur are put on a higher scale compared to others. People most often associate football injuries with concussions, even though the data stated earlier suggests that some activities cause more injuries. Overall, I think people need to be educated on what kinds of activities have potential dangers, and the safety measures needed to prevent these dangers from happening.
ReplyDeleteI agree being educated about how concussions happen and what they may cause is very important.
DeleteI played football, and I can say for sure that no rule, helmet, or restriction will stop head to head contact, including concussions. Tackle football is way to contact of a sport to attempt to make it completely safe. If a kid wants to play football, then they will just have to accept the fact that their brain will suffer from it. Even if you aren't concussed, there is a great chance still that you could get CTE, the disease which causes former professional football players to live their lives in disarray. CTE doesn't have to be caused by concussions at all, just repeated blows to the head. There can be no signs of injury at first, but the constant build up of your brain bouncing around inside your skull is enough to cause big problems in the long term. 97% of all NFL football players were diagnosed with CTE, including all kickers and holders who rarely if ever receive contact. The only true way you can play football and keep yourself safe, is to play touch or flag football.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very interesting perspective and in many ways I agree with you, but do you think it is really feasible that people will just trade in regular football with touch or flag football?
DeleteAfter watching the TED talk provided, I became intrigued to further discover additional information on concussions. By reading articles, watching TED talks, and hearing personal stories I was able to come to my own conclusions regarding the topic. Now that we are becoming more informed of the effects caused by concussions and the seriousness of this injury, we are living in fear. Fear something is dangerous, is permanent, and is unknown. Obviously, we won’t hide under layers of bubble wrap, quit playing sports, and refrain from watching “America’s sport” or any other, instead we will look for a solution. Everyone keeps saying to educate yourself. Except in my opinion we all know what a concussion is, why they happen, and signs to look for, when we should be posing questions of: How can we make sports safer? How create a better future in sports? Take action. Granted, in the last few years changes have been made to sports including equipment requires and rules, for example, in hockey the organization had moved the checking age up a level and the equipment has improved. In addition, not all concussions result from playing sports; I watched a video about a gentleman who has experience several concussions, but not all of them occurred while participating in a sport. In any moment, we risk injury, but that doesn’t mean we stop pursuing our passions(just maybe be safer).
ReplyDelete16,902 is the number of kids 14 and older that get concussions from football. I Football is a great sport and I like watching it. This doesn't mean that it's not dangerous. This statistic shows that football causes a lot of concussions. I don't believe in abolishing football, yet I don't really know what they should do to make it safer. I know that before entering any sport at CLC you have to take a concussion test which then reminds us we are putting ourselves in a situation where we might have the chance to get a concussion. Does that change peoples minds on playing the sport? Not really. Most people know going into the sport that they are at risk. I think the state should just let it be. People need to know how to take care of themselves whether that be making sure that they are wearing a helmet before getting on a bike or making sure to maybe not get themselves into something where they could get hurt such as a sport. Everywhere you go there are different risks you are putting yourselves into. Such as every time you get in a car you are putting yourself at risk of maybe getting in a car accident whether that be your fault or not is all the same. Even if you force people to wear helmets when they get on a bike it doesn't mean they are going too. People don't always follow the rules and they always find ways to hide what they are doing. The only thing I think the should inforce would be to make sure that everyone is educated on the brain and what the consequences would do and what they mean.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that football is a fun sport to watch, but it also is very dangerous. On the other hand I do agree with you that the people that play the sport already know what they are getting themselves into. If the people were worried about the possible injuries they could get from the sport then they would't play the sport.
DeleteHonestly, I love football, and I feel that it is a dangerous sport. But taking kids out of football would cause an outrage with the kids who do play. It is a very fun sport to watch, but that doesn't mean that it isn't dangerous. A way that we could reduce the injuries that football causes is teaching the sport the right way. Not to hit with your head, but with your body. Plus, hitting with the body is a much more effective way to take somebody down. Strapping on pads to kids is not a solution. The football leagues need to teach the kids how to play the sport the right way, and the safer way. But we should not get rid of football. All you need to do is maybe altar the rules a little bit with contact and stuff, and teach kids the right way to play. I love Friday night football games and I would hate to see it go.
ReplyDeleteThe topic of concussions is no subject that is to be thrown around loosely. There is more and more precautions that have been taking place in the NFL, such as adding more padding into the helmets, more rules and fines against targeting, and a new helmet by Riddell called the Speedflex. However, I feel as though there needs to be more precautions for youth football players. There are kids that I know who are playing tackle football at the age of even 7-8 years old. We shouldn't be letting kids put themselves in danger that young of an age. Let's go up to high school football. Personally, I support high school football, it should not be abolished. However, I think that all schools should put more money into the helmets more than anything. Aside from the equipment and players themselves, the parents also play a large role. They are putting the kids in leagues really young, when really, it isn't necessary. Flag football is always an option for kids who have a passion for football. There is also this reputation that if you want to play football at a young age, it has to be tackle. I don't think this is the case though, because flag is just as fun for little kids, speaking from personal experience. Bottom line, is that we don't need to be putting these kids at the risk of injury at such a young age, and that for older players, there needs to be more improvements, for example equipment.
ReplyDeleteThere is absolutely no denying that concussions are dangerous. It has become increasingly evident that this is the case. What’s scary is that we don’t seem to have an effective way to prevent and guard against them. Helmets have not been effective enough, and because over one million high schoolers play football it is abundantly clear that something needs to be done. I think it would be nearly impossible to abolish football and I do not think this should be done. High schoolers who play know the risks, and play the sport because they choose to. We shouldn’t take the sport away but we need to make sure those who play are safe. While helmets are a start, something else needs to be done.
ReplyDeleteConcussions are a serious injury that should be prevented if possible. However, completely eradicating the sport of football or other contact sports seems completely unnecessary. Rather than just getting rid of dangerous sports, coaches should make an effort to explain concussions and how to know the signs so it can be caught, or the player could avoid situations that could cause this injury altogether. Also, I think that due to the exponential growth in the likelihood of concussion after each successive injury, players who have sustained multiple concussions in a season should be taken out of that sport for the season to prevent further damage or possible development of CTE. While concussions in high-contact sports is a serious issue, I think that more moderate yet significant steps can be taken to prevent them rather than removing the game. Unfortunately, children can’t always be wrapped in bubble wrap and deserve to enjoy playing the sport that makes them happy as long as there is no serious threat to their health.
ReplyDeleteI believe that, although football is a dangerous, everything in life is. You could be walking with your friends on a sunny day when all of a sudden, BAM! You trip and whack your head on the sidewalk and get a concussion. So what do we do to solve this problem, sue the city and have them remove the sidewalk for safety reasons? Just because something can cause an injury, does that mean we take it away? Football may have the highest concussion rate through all sports, but we could implement more rules and regulations to keep the players safe. If you want to take everything dangerous out of the world, the world itself would be non existent. So, in order to have fun and be safe, wear helmets with padding on the inside, or learn how to walk.
ReplyDeleteConcussions can cause memory loss and significant brain trauma, since 97% of all NFL football players are diagnosed with CTE, I believe that you should play at your own risk. The statistic does only mention NFL football players which would have years more of experience and harsher play than a high school student who plays. This can mean that levels of damage to your brain are lower the less you might play. While advancement in protection from brain damage-such as better helmets-the sport will never be completely safe. Sports all come with a cost, while parents might be worried, it is all the players own risk. The only sure way to prevent brain damage is by never playing the sport. If it is something you excel at then the risk could be worth it. I believe there truly are more problems than damage from sports, and that the only way to "fix" the issue is not allowing the player (you are concerned about) play the game. I play soccer and they are trying to enforce a rule about not heading the ball, I risk potential brain damage every time I play, for me I see it as worth it because it is something I love to play. Football players may never stop playing for the same reason.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the Ted video i started thinking about the sports that i play, rugby, football, and wrestling. They are all contact sports, then i starting thinking about what organizations to to help insure safety in sports. In football you have pads and a helmet but in wrestling and rugby you have barely any protection or pads. The only significant difference i know is in football they teach you to tackle and block people with your head in their chest which, in repetition, can cause a concussion to occur. While in rugby and wrestling they teach you to tackle with your head off to the side to avoid getting hurt but you can still get a concussion. Well you may ask, why do people do sports if they know that they could get hurt? The answer is simple, for fun, exercise or to met new friends. So now you have to weigh the pros and the cons of doing a sport. Will you take the risk or not?
ReplyDeletePersonally I have been lucky enough to never have a concussion. A fair amount of my friends have gotten them and almost all of them were from things that you can’t wear helmets or protective padding. Concessions don't have a bright side to them at all. The 1.1 million high school students who play football I feel do have a higher chance of getting a concussion but that's also just how the sport is. I don't think football should be eliminated because in everything there is a chance you can get hurt. I think as long as they are aware of the risks and they choose to play it's their choice.
ReplyDeleteConcussions do really need to be payed more attention to, but I don't feel like eliminating all contact sports is the answer. Instead of doing this, I think there are ways to drop down the amount of kids suffering from them each year, such as new regulations and mandatory ways for a coach to teach his team. Especially if these rules start when a player is young, the amount of head injury will decrease drastically. I just feel as though if high school football was to stop next season, not only would it be a bummer for all the kids, but the schools stadium would go to waste, and they would not make money from the entrance fees.
ReplyDeleteI don't think we should just pull kids out of all sports that could hypothetically give them a concussion, we just need to find a better way to protect them form it happening. We can't deprive the athletic childhood experiences of a child's at fear of them getting hurt. Getting injured is just a part of life and can be a lesson for people, especially growing and maturing adolescence. By doing so, we'd be teaching them is when things get hard just give up. Over one million American kids play football and we can't just make them stop playing. We need to find a way for kids to be kids, but keep them from getting seriously hurt with safety precautions.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the movements to have concussion programs to work on helping youth sports to keep the danger of concussions at bay. If people can identify and treat concussions in youth, it will help them stay healthy and not receive brain damage. Also, if left undetected, the blows people take to the head could be fatal! “1 in 5 high school athletes will sustain a sports concussion during the season,” which shows how major the issue with concussions is. I’m not saying that they should remove high school contact sports because it would cause an outrage, but we should take more safety factors into consideration. (I got statistics here http://www.headcasecompany.com/concussion_info/stats_on_concussions_sports)
ReplyDeleteIf the parents and the kids are willing to take the risk to play football they should be able to do it. With that said, the state should be able to make some adjustments to the rules to fix/help he concussion problem currently going on. Coaches also need to teach kids how to properly perform a tackle to prevent concussions. Many kids lead with their head which could cause concussions or even paralyze the kids. It's not just football we should be worried about. We should inform kids about the possibilities of head injuries in many sports such as soccer, baseball, or virtually any sport. All in all if we teach kids the dangers of concussions and how to prevent them we could play sports with less worry.
ReplyDeleteI think that eliminating high school football games because of concussions is a bit of a stretch. Eliminating causes of concussions as a whole will not get rid of them. Just because athletes wouldn't be playing football at school, doesn't mean they aren't playing elsewhere. 1 in 5 students that play football get a concussion during the season, so getting them is a big risk, but when a player signs up to play, they go in knowing there is that risk. All football players need to know how to try to prevent getting them and how to take care of themselves. Everyone in general needs to learn about what causes concussions and how to prevent getting one or if you do get one, then how to take care of yourself and see a doctor. Getting rid of the causes won't get rid of the risk of getting concussions. We just need to be educated on them because they are a part of life and anyone is at the risk of getting one. It is important that kids wear a helmet because if you fall off of your bike and injure your head very badly, then you are at risk for terrible damage to your brain or if something really traumatic happens and you aren't wearing a helmet you could even die. Kids and teens just need to be aware of what could happen and how important it is to protect their head. This reminds me of a book I read a long time ago where this girl's brother refused to wear his helmet, went to ride his bike, but unfortunately hit his tire on a huge rock, fell on his head, and I think a car might have almost crashed into him as well. But he ended up dying because the doctor said he wasn't wearing a helmet and if he was he had a better chance of surviving just with injuries. You never know what kind of accidents you can get into so it is very critical that we teach children how to be safe and prevent concussions.
ReplyDeleteI think the whole concussion issue is a very debate and sticky situation. It's gonna be hard to find a good solution where the sport isn't gotten rid of entirely. Although watching the video, I was surprised to see that kids suffered the most concussions cycling. In fact double the amount sustained during football. It's hard to come up with the solution to preventing and treating concussions. A lot of these doctors and neurosurgeons are taking a lot of heat for what they are doing. People don't want to see the sport of football be taken away from them. I saw this the most in the movie concussion with Will Smith. He was taking a serious verbal beat down and even received threats from a lot of the Steelers fans. I certainly think there are precautions that can be taken to try and prevent concussions like wearing a helmet when your riding your bike. That still isn't gonna completely take away your risk for getting a concussion. My dad used to be a big football player back in high school but stopped after his sophomore year when he began to hear about the affects of concussions.
ReplyDeleteI think that the debate on concussions is very debatable. While concussions can cause some major mental issues, i think that forcing kids to do things and removing a high school sport is not a very smart way to go about things. Taking precautions like wearing a helmet when you know there will be contact I think is a good way to handle the situation, but wearing a helmet for every little thing that might happen seems slightly excessive to me.
ReplyDeleteI have played football basically my whole life and it is my favorite sport. I know the risks of playing football and that is a dangerous sport. 47% of concussions from sports come from football. I my time of playing I have suffered one concussion but I am not going to stop playing because of that. All football players know the risk but they choose to play the sport. I don’t think they should rid of football because the players know what the risk are and it’s there choice.For many people that may be there only sport and they have put in so much work in for that sport and then soon have it taken away from them. Concussions will never be prevented. But officials have worked very hard to make the game safer. Several drills I did as a little kid are now banned and now in practices many hitting drills are not allowed. The actually is much harder to control that but they have made very strict rules on head to head contact which teams definitely do not want to get penalized for.
ReplyDeleteI think that concussions are unavoidable to some people and avoidable to others. Bikers and football players can avoid it only if they are beyond careful. Bikers werther they do it for fun or they do it for sport know that if you go fast enough and fall off, you’re going to get a concussion. Football players know that they are going to get hit and banged around and ore at imminent danger of having someone rush them and give them a concussion. The best way to protect kids from getting a concussion is not putting them in a situation that can possibly lead to them getting a concussion. But we do it all the time and put faith in the people around them hopping they won't give them concussions. There are many many ways that people use to reduce the G’s of force on a child, like helmets. For bikers and football players, helmets help them a lot by reducing the G’s by about half, as kim gorges stated. But everybody should know that no matter how many rules you make and how many strings you pull to add laws to safety, people are going to get a concussion. Rules will be broken and safety measures can fail if put in a situation that it hasn't been tested in before. Parents should not be overprotective, but should understand that sports have that possibility no matter what. So should everyone else, if there were no more concussions in the world it would be better for health but many things would have to be taken away and people would have to be so careful that they literally don’t do anything that can possibly push them around. We are allowed to take risks but we always need to keep safety in mind.
ReplyDeleteI agree we need to keep kids safe in football. But when people get scared about concussions and won't let their kid play because of it,then that is where I draw the line. I have been playing football for 7 years and since day one, the coaches have been preaching that you have to keep your head and chest up when hitting to prevent injury. Plus, the equipment is much safer than what is was in past years. So the risk is even lesser now. Although we cannot fix the problem with concussions, we have taken major strides to prevent them in the past years. And I hope parents who are weary of putting their kids in football can take comfort in the fact that the rates of concussions have gone down significantly.
ReplyDeleteI believe that concussions have been a growing topic, and much more research can still be done to prevent them from causing such bad outcomes. I don’t think that we need to pull our kids out of these high risk for head injury sports but find more protection for the brain. Football is one of the major sports that is played and watched all across the US. If we take our kids out of these sports then what will bring the whole country together to root on their favorite teams? I believe the best way to keep our kids from getting concussion is wearing the safest made helmets out there. There are always going to be risks when playing sports but when you love that sport that much do you really care about the injuries? The men playing pro football already know the risks. I do believe that forcing kids to wear their helmets while riding bikes is just like football because I know first hand that helmets can save your life.
ReplyDeleteConcussions are a problem. They can cause serious problems in a human brain, but we have to realize that concussions can happen in any situation. The NFL is already making strides to protect against concussions, with the development of the Riddell speedflex and the new VICIS helmet that protects against rotational force, what usually causes concussions. When I signed up to play football, I understood that I'm probably going to get a concussion before I graduate high school. But the thing that I don't get is why everyone's freaking out about high school football. The people that suffer serious brain problems are the people that play high school, college and then professional football, where the players are inhumanly fast, strong, and hard hitting. I think that the problem occurs when children are put on the gridiron at 7-8 years of age, when they don't know how to count to 50.
ReplyDeleteI think high school football should no be banned. Millions around America play football and yes it can be unsafe at times but so can all sports. 1. I think it would be almost impossible to abolish football with the love of the sport being so strong throughout the U.S. Although football is responsible for most of sports concussions, if they were to ban football I feel they would have to ban other high contact sports too.
ReplyDeleteI think that taking away contact sports such as football is not part of the solution to the issue of concussions. The part that is dangerous is the fact that numerous concussions can lead to permanent brain damage or even death. Players who take part in these activities know the risks that they assume.
ReplyDeleteI personally believe that we should not abolish high school sports, but that we should instead improve and streamline the protection technology for each sport. Sports encourage team building, both within the team itself and those who support that team, and medically speaking it is a problem with the amount of head injuries that are gained through such sports, but that is why we need new innovations in the realm of safety technology. Current football helmets only reduce the damage done by 20% when compared to bare heads, and even then they are not that good for blows to the side of the head. But I may be thinking a bit too optimistic here, I think that if we truly want to eliminate head injuries than Football itself needs to be redesigned and I don’t think that is currently feasible, so as for right now in the 21st century we need to streamline and advance protection technology for our current sports.
ReplyDeleteI think that we should not ban high school football. I get that there are concerns about players getting brain damage later on, but the players know the risks of playing football. Football is the most popular sport in America so if we decided to get rid of it then a lot of people would not agree with that. While football can be dangerous, it is a huge part of a lot of people's lives. So to just get rid of football seems a little ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteConcussions are a terrible thing and nobody should have to go through a recovery from one. Concussions are real though and just because it is common for a football player to receive one doesn't mean we should get rid of football in high schools. High school is all about reaching out, finding what your are and aren't good at and making mistakes. High school is also about preparing for life and I believe that concussions are a harsh, yet very efficient, way of teaching high school students that life isn't not pain free and that you are not invincible and your decisions should be taken under serious consideration. Now, you should not take all of your gear off and play football with no pads, but still play football as how it is played now. Extra padding in the helmets would be beneficial as they currently only reduce the damage by 20% compared to a bare head, and high school is about learning from accidents and mistakes, not being mentally paralyzed by them. I think high school football should definitely stick around for many more years. Schools with higher injury rates should consider purchasing better equipment for their students but should keep the program alive.
ReplyDeleteExtreme contact sports like Football should not be banned in high schools. Although the safety of the players is at risk, it is not as intense as some people make it out to be. There are a lot of precautions taken to prevent injury, like how they teach us to keep your head up when hitting a player. Also, everything we do in everyday life has it's risks. 1.3 million people die every year in car crashes, but we don't eliminate cars altogether, we try and teach how to keep safe. However, I do think that some hits in football should have consequences, for example the clip showed in the video, the player in yellow should be penalized for making a hit like that, maybe be suspended for a game or two, not be congratulated by his teammates. The only thing I think that high school level sports should change, are the loose rules on hitting and tackling, by making them more strict.
ReplyDeleteConcussions. Of the nearly 3 million concussion cases reported annually in the United States, over 2 million are youth cases and of those, just over a million are high school youth (Mayo Clinic). No coincidence that the largest number of concussions occur September – October…football season. The efforts to bring awareness to concussions, their symptoms and long-term effects has ramped-up accordingly. I’m all for the increased awareness as it helps parents and youth make informed decisions if they want to participate in such concussion-prone activities. The public awareness has also prompted technological advances in equipment, with the hopes of increasing safety and reducing concussion occurrences. My sister was recently elbowed in the face / head during her basketball game. Grateful for her coaches who are well-informed about concussions and had her sit for the rest of the game, despite her pleas to get back out on the court. Coaches insisted she be checked for a concussion at the immediate care. Luckily, no concussion, just a broken nose. Increased awareness and discussion of concussions....it's a win for all who chose to play the game.
ReplyDeleteI believe that protecting people, mainly children, from concussions is very important. The best way to protect people from getting concussions would be to have better quality protective gear, mainly helmets or not have young children participate in such dangerous sports. Being tackled in football is equivalent to 103 Gs, less than those of being in a car accident, equivalent to 35 Gs. Wearing helmets that are new and better quality could severely damage the amount of children who have concussions. People in high school are three times more likely to get concussions, and although it may be extreme it may reach the point in the future if people keep getting such severe concussions that we would have to possibly ban football. Educating people about concussions is important to keep people from getting so severely injured.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading several posts, I've noticed that not too many people have brought up the actual effects of brain damage. A majority of responses said something along the lines of "...educate kids more on concussions." I certainly agree that more education on this topic would have beneficial outcomes however, concussions aren't the only problem. The condition we learned about in class, from the movie "Concussion", is what I'm more concerned about. CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) is a progressive degenerative disease that is undiagnoseable until after the diseased person has died. CTE is caused by repetitive trauma to the head. The scary thing is that asymptomatic concussions can lead to the development of the disease. The definition of asymptomatic is "Producing or showing no symptoms." What this means is that athletes could go their entire careers without realizing that they have developed concussions. This is why I believe that strict regulations should be implemented into youth football leagues. If not that, then football should be banned. We all love going to Friday night games and hanging out with out friends but, we can not sacrifice the health of the athletes for our enjoyment. Symptoms of STE can include confusion, memory loss, aggression, depression, and in extreme cases, dimensia. This are serious problems that cannot be taken lightly. I think that the health of a person should always be the top priority.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article I think that we need to research more on concussions and repeated hits to the head. I believe that we need to take a break from football for a couple years and put more rules into place that not only minimize concussions, but also the smaller hits to head that happen in most plays. We need to start focusing on the smaller hits that happen in regular play. I think that CTE, repeated hits to the head, is a bigger deal than concussions because this happens to much more athletes and is a lot harder to diagnose than a concussion. I think that IHSA should look into maybe banning football and allowing other sports to take over "Friday Night Lights". Even though this will leave lots of parents mad I think that if we start banning it at the younger ages then eventually in high school that here could be a smooth transition. While many people will still be upset I believe most will realize that this ban is for the good of the students.
ReplyDeleteConcussions are indeed bad for one’s health, whether it be a young or old person. But there’s little the state or others have control over. It’s actually a pretty good idea to enforce children and older teens to wear helmets as it is a lifesaver. I don’t think that sports should be banned either, sports have been a part of our history for a long time and there’s no need to ban them. The best thing really we as people can do is be cautious of our actions and to teach children how to avoid such accidents, since many concussions go unnoticed. Those in sports though should be aware of what’s going on, coaches, players, etc. should be educated on the topic of concussions as it’s a really serious injury. I’m personally not very knowledgeable in the topic as i'm no where athletic but i've seen on football how serious a concussion can get and people should be aware of the dangers. If someone enjoys playing a sport, no way should they quit because of a fear of getting a concussion, they just need to take certain precautions to help prevent receiving a concussion.
ReplyDeleteConcussions are a big problem today, from all the people that don't wear helmets to people not having enough protection and constantly slamming their heads, more and more people get concussions. Even though there are many ways to prevent getting a concussion not a lot of people want to do it. I think that taking out sports like football is way too extreme because of how popular it already is, but the protection that they are given could be better. Enforcing rules to assure the safety of the players would help a lot, less injuries might happen. Also making better head protection, making helmets in a way that won't harm the wearer at all. Parents also need to take responsibility and teach their child to always wear a helmet when riding bikes and other vehicles like that.
ReplyDeleteI feel that even after reading this article, although concussions are a serious injury that should be prevented if possible... removing the sport of football or other contact sports seems genuinely unnecessary. Instead of just getting rid of every single dangerous sports, it would seemingly be more beneficial if coaches made an effort to explain concussions and teach payers to know the signs so it can be caught, or a player can generally attempt to avoid situations that can cause this injury. Also, due to the exponential growth in the likelihood of concussions after each successive injury, players who have endured multiple concussions should be taken out of that sport for simply the rest of the season in order to prevent further damage. While concussions in sports is an intense and life threatening issue, I feel that more moderate yet efficient steps can be taken to prevent them rather than removing the game as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that high school sports should be abolished. Parents might be aware that there is a risk of getting a concussion but don’t know what they can cause later on. Schools should make sure students and parents are aware of the risks of getting a concussion. I believe it is the player’s decision if they want to risk the long term effects and play a high-impact sport.
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