This is a letter regarding head injuries (concussions, etc.) and contact sports that ran in the Press Democrat Santa Rosa newspaper on September 16, 2012.
Football and other contact sports (such as boxing) are not in the same league as other sports. One of the main goals of football is for the athlete to physically dominate and overpower his opponent. It is an integral part of the game. In what other context would it be OK for someone to slam into or knock down another person? Generally, wouldn’t that kind of activity elsewhere land someone in jail?
With all of the research coming out about concussions, people need to remove their blinders. Don’t be fooled or reassured into thinking that football can be made safe. Football is too dangerous for children (or adults, for that matter). The smartest thing parents can do is to encourage their children to play other, less violent sports.
Now that it is known that it doesn’t even take a head blow to cause a concussion (a forceful enough body blow can suffice), no helmet, safety program, neck strengthening regimen, coach training, parent education, or baseline cognition testing program will help once the deed is done. A study just came out that one single concussion in youth may adversely impact on someone’s life even forty years later. Is this really worth it to people?
We can start by not introducing football at all to the little children. It will be impossible to wean our generation off of it, plus there are a lot of people (players themselves, coaches, parents, professional teams, etc.) invested in the sport of football, and they are not going to want to give it up. But, at least think of the next generation, the little ones. It is our duty to safeguard their futures. The best way to protect kids from football concussions (and potentially even more serious brain injuries) is to wean society off of football altogether.
Sue Hultberg
President, Brain Injury Network
Note: It appeared that the response of the local school board (of one of the large local school board districts) was to hire a doctor to perform cognitive baseline testing on its football program athletes. Later the school district announced that all athletes in their school programs would be able to get the cognitive baseline testing as well. The school district also forked out monies to have athletic trainers at all of the football contests. This is only one school district in the area. These procedures, though admirable, still do not prevent concussions. They will only put procedures into place that will help a child once the child has had a concussion. For example, the child will be taken off of the field. The child will have subsequent cognitive testing and the baseline testing that was previously conducted will be evaluated against new findings. However, there will still be the messy recovery from the concussion. Wouldn't it be better not to put children in harms' way in the first place where possible? Eliminate the more dangerous sports. Sure, there is a potentiality for concussion in any activity or sport, but why expose children to activities (such as tackle football) that pretty much ensure they will have a concussion sooner or later.
