Pressley 1

Jacob Pressley

English 3

Junior Research Paper

March 17, 2017

Football is Safe for Kids

Over the span of eight years, the number of emergency room visits for the treatment of

concussions has increased from 153,375 to 248,414, an increase of sixty-two percent (Lowrey

and Morain 290). A concussion is a traumatic brain injury that causes arteries to constrict and

that slows down the flow of blood to the brain. It also causes calcium to flood the brain, and that

blocks the flow of oxygen and blood to the brain (Gregory 63). Parents and players have started

to worry about whether or not the sport of football is safe to play due to the risks of head injury.

Despite the concerns related to head injuries in the sport of football, parents and players alike

should rest easily knowing that the risk of serious head injury has been declining as new

equipment and protocols have been created in recent years.

Due to the risks relating to head injury, new protocols have been put into place to help

football become safer. The article Should kids play football? states, ...with all the public

attention on the concussion crisis, football seems to be getting safer every day. For example, Pop

Warner has limited the amount of practice time that includes tackling. Nationwide programs are

training coaches, parents, and athletes to recognize and treat concussions. All 50 states have

passed laws requiring a medical professional to sign off before an injured player can go back on

the field (Shotz 11). Most concussions are sustained during tackling, so doctors, coaches, and

schools have started making protocols limiting hitting in an effort to reduce the chance of getting

a concussion. When a concussion happens, it is normally sustained from head-to-head contact,

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and coaches are teaching their players the correct form to tackle so they can avoid head-to-head

contact as much as possible. Coaches and parents are ascertaining that they are making football

as safe as it can be. If a player has sustained symptoms such as nausea or dizziness more than

fifteen minutes, then they need to be benched until they are symptom-free for a week (Gregory

63). This protocol is trying to prevent the player from returning too early, and coaches are

preventing the second impact syndrome. The second impact syndrome is when someone sustains

a hard hit to the head then later that person sustains another hard hit to their head and it kills

them (Gregory 63). If that person only sustained one hit the impact would not have been enough

but with both impacts it was enough to kill them. The article Hard Knocks states neither impact

would have been sufficient to cause death in the absence of the other impact (Gregory 63). If

someone has a concussion, and they go back in the game, normally the second hit to the head is a

lot worse than the first hit. Other than new protocol, new equipment is also being made to help

prevent concussions.

People have been asking if the sport of football is safe and if the risks are greater than the

benefits for many years. Football has a lot of benefits for the players; plus new equipment is

being made to make football safer than ever before. One of the new pieces of equipment being

made is a new series of specialized helmets. The article Football Helmet IP Goes Head to

Head explains how helmets are changing to become safer: While laymen might demand

harder, stronger helmets, engineers are developing ways to cushion and absorb the impact. For

example, vehicles utilize crumple zones that absorb the impact by slowing the collision.

Football helmets adopting crumple zones present practical problems (Rieffel 12). People

making football equipment are trying to use the latest technologies to help reduce head impact so

athletes do not get a concussion. Instead of them making helmets that are bigger and stronger,
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they are making them where the helmets absorb the impact. The stronger hard helmets would not

work, because when there is an impact it still goes into the head, but with these crumple zones,

the impact is being absorbed into that. Helmets are also being made with shock bonnet

suspension. It is a system that moves independently of the shell to hopefully reduce the

rotational forces (Rieffel 12). This also helps reduce the impact from a head to head

collision.There are, however, some reasons that parents do not want their kids to play football.

Parents fear that football is too dangerous to play, and they worry that, if their child

sustains a head injury, they will suffer consequences in many facets of their life. One reason that

parents think that it is too dangerous is because, when their child sustains a concussion, it

restricts the blood flow to the brain. If an injured player goes back into play too soon, that player

could get a second concussion that triggers the second impact syndrome, and it could be enough

to kill the player. The chance of second impact syndrome is really low due to the precautions that

are taken. When the player has the symptoms of a concussion that last more than fifteen minutes,

they need to tell the coach. Then, they need to sit out for a week after they are symptom-free

(Gregory 63). Additionally, in order for an injured player to return, that player needs to be

cleared by a doctor. This helps prevent the player returning too early, and it helps reduce the

chance of second impact syndrome. Parents also fear that, if their child sustains a concussion,

they could fall behind in school. Kelly Russell states, Studies suggest that symptoms such as

headaches, fatigue, impaired concentration, and slowed processing speed may impair academic

performance, therefore, students with concussion may be at risk of falling behind in the

classroom. Together, these issues could result in students trying to work harder in an attempt to

make up missed school work, which may exacerbate concussion symptoms (Russell 2). Even if

a student athlete has those symptoms, their academics could not be affected because of the
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symptoms. Although there are concerns revolving around concussions and education, football

can also give young athletes a chance to further their education, because they could get

scholarships for college.

The sport of football is a lot safer than people make it out to be, and parents also do not

realize all the benefits that football has. Parents and players should understand that the sport of

football is safer than what many make it out to be, and they should know that football is more

than just a sport that people play. It has a lot of benefits that go with it like it helps teach

teamwork, communication, goal setting, and work ethic. As new technology and protocols come

out, the sport of football is getting safer and safer for kids to play.

Works Cited

Gregory, Sean. "Hard Knocks." Time, vol. 173, no. 4, 02 Feb. 2009, pp. 63-64. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,custuid&custid=

s8455861&db=a9h&AN=36241030&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
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Lowrey, Kerri McGowan and Stephanie R. Morain. "State Experiences Implementing Youth

Sports Concussion Laws: Challenges, Successes, and Lessons for Evaluating Impact."

Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, vol. 42, no. 3, Fall2014, pp. 290-296.

EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/jlme.12146.

Rieffel, Kevin. "Football Helmet IP Goes Head to Head." IP Litigator, vol. 22, no. 6,

Nov/Dec2016, pp. 11-13. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&AuthType=ip,custuid&custid=s8455861&db=a9h&AN=11

9908073&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Russell, Kelly, et al. "Academic Outcomes in High-School Students After a Concussion: A

Retrospective Population-Based Analysis." Plos ONE, vol. 11, no. 10, 20 Oct. 2016,

pp. 1-12. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0165116.

Shotz, Jennifer. "Should Kids Play Football?." Scholastic Scope, vol. 63, no. 6, Feb. 2015, pp.

10-12. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,

custuid&custid=s8455861&db=a9h&AN=100855782&site=ehost-live&scope=site.