Concussions in High School Football and Sports

Concussions, a common and uprising problem in sports these days with kids. The nation is being
affected by this crucial problem because these young athletes can not play this amazing sport. Parents
are getting very skeptical and nervous to see their children out there hitting others with all their power.
Could maybe this sport go extinct with our generation?
Football on late Sunday afternoons with a big stack of ribs and a apple pie simmering in the oven
waiting to be devoured is about as American as it gets. Americas pastime could be easily lost in the
years as it was started up. The answer for why is concussions. In 2012, the NFL had recorded around 13
concussions a week. Even though the NFL is not high school, it shows even with all that high tech and
thought out equipment, players are still entitled to getting concussions. Last year, there were recorded
100,000 concussions. High school affects individuals lives and loved ones around them because of the
state they are in during a concussion.
The national government is currently involved in the problem. President Obama is donating
money from the government to help with better protection and analysis on how to help the problem. In
2014, Address the Press, President Obama discussed the importance of investigating the rise of high
school concussions. He explained when he played as a kid, he got concussions. Yet, he went on and
didnt mind them. Now, we need change a culture of suck it up. This is great for him to say and he also
goes on to say how getting awareness out there and everyone on the same page with concussions will
improve the way they occur. On Espn, they have been doing lots of science and analysis on it
themselves. There is a segment called Sports Science, and it takes science into play with the activity of
sports and how things occur. They did a video on concussions. It showed how over every year 100,000
concussions took place through every level of football. They came to a conclusion of being hit to the head
on a tackle is the equivalent of being hit in the head with a sledge hammer. Many scientist are in the
research of making better shock absorbent helmets to reduce the risk of concussions all for the sake of
the game.
Finally, the players are now having to go through many and many tests so they can be cleared to
play again. In high school, many players are required out for two weeks. This is a national requirement for
many places, not just Colorado. This is a big step they took in making it safer. It can depend on severity,
but this is the case most often. Laws state, players who are injured in the head have to be rested. If the
coach will not take them out, it is against the law and can be illegal because it is risking the health of a
child. All this is new because of the uprising of concussions. Americas past time cannot be lost.
Throughout all of the nation, parents, coaches and communities are being affected by head
trauma in football. They have started taking precautions and major steps to decreasing the problem. Laws
have been set and millions of dollars into the research and development to making this problem not-aproblem. Even though it is on a national law and many people are trying to help the problem, I believe
there could be more done. Many coaches for little league football are not truly aware and have head to
head contact drills at practice. Hitting in practice can cause the most amount of concussions. Some drills
are terrible for little children to be doing. This is how I believe the problem could also be addressed. This
is my ideas on football. The best sport in the world.

Johnson. "Return to Play Guidelines Cannot Solve the Football-Related Concussion Problem." Consumer Health
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Harrison, Emily. "The First Concussion Crisis." Consumer Health Complete. EBSCO, May 2014. Web. 19 Sept. 2014.
<http://web.a.ebscohost.com/chc/detail?vid=7&sid=4b2f30ea-ae0e-44d9-827c9e03005a0e2f%40sessionmgr4001&hid=4112&bdata=JnNpdGU9Y2hjLWxpdmU%3d#db=cmh&AN=95476853>.
Chrisman, Dawn R. Comstock, Sara P., Fredrick P. Rivara, Mellisa A. Schiff, and Chaun Zhou.. "Risk Factors for Concussive
Symptoms 1 Week or Longer in High School Athletes." Consumer Health Complete. EBSCO, Jan. 2013. Web. 19 Sept. 2014.
<http://web.a.ebscohost.com/chc/detail?vid=8&sid=4b2f30ea-ae0e-44d9-827c9e03005a0e2f%40sessionmgr4001&hid=4112&bdata=JnNpdGU9Y2hjLWxpdmU%3d#db=cmh&AN=84402799>.