Dangerous Sports For The Youth

Dangerous Sports for the Youth

“Injuries associated with participation in sports and recreational activities account for twenty one percent of all traumatic brain injuries among children in the United States.” (Advanced Solutions International, Inc). Twenty-one percent is a pretty high percentage of brain injuries on children, it makes people wonder if there is a way to minimize such results. Parents can be over protective when it comes to the safety of their children when considering letting their children play a sport, especially when it is about football.

Many people consider the sport football to be a dangerous sport and for good reason too. Football has a larger percentage of injuries and concussions than most sports but despite all that it is still regarded as one of the best sports in the United States followed by basketball and baseball.

A statistic taken from a website called Stop Sports Injuries says that,” Injuries associated with participation in sports and recreational activities account for 21 percent of all traumatic brain injuries among children in the United States” (Advanced Solutions International, Inc.

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). Children eventually can be hurt while playing sports and can be considered normal to most people; however, having repeated injuries and concussions can lead to permanent physical and mental damage in the children's future. Although some parents believe that children should be allowed to play football even if it can be harmful to them, I do not agree with parents in allowing children to play football because it can cause long term or permanent injuries and

A reason why I disagree with parents on allowing children to do dangerous sports is because it can lead or cause long term and/or permanent physical and mental damage to children.

It has been known throughout the years that NFL players have gotten chronic brain damage after years of repeated concussions and injuries to the head. Some NFL players have even committed suicide due to them suffering from chronic traumatic alopathy or as others have simply had called it CTE. According to the author Golinkin he says that researchers have concluded that Seau (a San Diego Chargers legend) suffered from CTE, a type of chronic brain damage that is increasingly becoming a side effect of being an NFL football player (Golinkin, Jeb). It is hard to understand why NFL players would do such a thing like commit suicide. That is why there has been done an extensive amount of research done in Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy to help researchers understand this disease better. Researchers are getting brain samples from deceased NFL players as a way to examine and understand how these symptoms can affect a person.

Another reason for disagreeing with parents is that some parents have argued that children should play dangerous sports because it is the children's choice to do what they want and it can help toughen them up. There is a chance that children will get into accidents while playing sports and there is nothing anyone can do about it but that does not mean that there should be a restriction in children for playing in any sport. The author Golinkin from “Why Parents Should Let Their Kids Play Dangerous Sports” makes a fair point on letting children play dangerous sports and says, ” When the time comes, let your kid play football, or hockey or whatever, and let him decide for himself. He may break his leg or suffer a concussion, but he will be far better off for it over the course of his life than if he stays inside and plays video games.”(Golinkin, Jeb pg.618 par.11).

Another quote from the same author says,” Between the lines, our children learn the importance of team work, sportsmanship, toughness, and competitiveness…our children learn to strive, to succeed, and, most importantly, how to fail.“(Golinkin, Jeb pg.618 par.11). There are things that people can learn through sports that can be considered precious and worth learning. In contrast to that, there have been many injured children in the United States who have permanent damage done to their bodies throughout the years of doing dangerous sports such as football, baseball, basketball, and soccer. There are different sports out there that are much safer than football The author Burleigh from “Would Football without Concussions Still Be Football?” had a good quote regarding the issues with the problems that occur in football whether professional or high school level which says,” It’s been a bad year for America’s favorite fall sport, what with lawsuits by former NFL players, the Penn State scandal, pro player suicides, college and high school deaths, and brain damage injuries at all levels.”(Burleigh, Nina pg.611 par.#6).

Surely football players learn a few things throughout their football career such as teamwork/sportsmanship but at the cost of permanent brain injuries and players committing suicides. As a result it has caused many parents to be more aware of the damages it can cause to their children. Another interesting quote from Burleigh says,”Thousands of former players have sued the league claiming the NFL failed to inform them of the long term danger of brain damage from repeated concussions.” (Burleigh, Nina pg. 611 par.#10). Even pro players have had the unfortunate chance of getting brain damage and are now suing the NFL for thousands of dollars. Football is a great sport and fun to watch, however, letting children play at an early age can cause serious injury problems in their future and its best to prevent or such things from happening.

Having seen and read thoroughly to Burleigh and Golinkin’s research information and other statistics information on injuries to youth has opened my eyes to the possible dangers that children can face. Although there is a number of parents who still encourage their children to play football despite the possibility of getting permanent injuries, they should not allow them to play tackle football until at least at the age of 13 years old. There are plenty of other sports children can do before they reach their teen years, in the meantime, sports such as running, soccer, basketball, etc. can be a great alternative for them as it can help them be active and healthy.