Something to consider, guys, while I like that theoretical concept....human beings in general are horrible at judging situations involving something definitely good now possibly causing something bad later. Children are even worse at it. They just can't grasp the concept of deferred outcomes. Not to say I'm opposed to kids playing football, but if your reasoning is that they made an informed choice...they really likely didn't, since they can't accurately judge that risk. Children regularly are tested in a "Have a piece of candy now, or 3 later" situations, and they take the 1 now.
Kids playing football
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Something to consider, guys, while I like that theoretical concept....human beings in general are horrible at judging situations involving something definitely good now possibly causing something bad later. Children are even worse at it. They just can't grasp the concept of deferred outcomes. Not to say I'm opposed to kids playing football, but if your reasoning is that they made an informed choice...they really likely didn't, since they can't accurately judge that risk. Children regularly are tested in a "Have a piece of candy now, or 3 later" situations, and they take the 1 now.
I was wondering if you'd be posting in here.
The brain stops developing at 25. There is no way I feel comfortable not just opening up the possibility of brain bruising and injury during a period of development, but essentially encouraging it. I've had a family member with severe brain injury, and it is life-altering and devastating. I don't want that for my son when the odds of him being good enough to get any appreciable benefit from it (in the way of a scholarship or career) are astronomically small. He's in the 3rd percentile for height right now, so I'm pretty sure he'd get his butt knocked all over the field. I'm not setting him up to get his butt kicked.
- Mar 27, 2006
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That's totally valid, and I know that when I was 14, I certainly wasn't thinking long term. However, I do know that the type of parent that I try to be, doesn't allow for a lot of "forbidding" things, not that we don't have rules, but I really dislike the "because I said so" line of logic. It will also depend on how my kid grows up. If my child has a passion for football, I'm not going to stand in the way of it.
Also, why be the bad guy, when I don't have to be?
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Do 1 in 5 kids who drive sustain a concussion? Of those, do 33% report at least one more driving-related concussion within a year?
High-school football accounts for 47% of all sports-related concussions. To say that football isn't a huge problem is just false.
I'm sure there are studies to support this but I don't really agree with it. If you give me the option of 1 now or 3 in 5 minutes yeah it makes sense to take the three, but if it is 1 now or 3 in a week I'm taking the 1 now. I don't really know that we can effectively measure these things because their different for everyone.
The problem is not concussions. It's multiple sub-concussive hits over the course of the season - playing on the line, doing Oklahoma drills, head hitting the ground, etc - that puts a person at greater risk. Muhammad Ali was never knocked out, but he took a lot of blows to the head. Younger kids are at greater risk because even though they are slower and lighter, their neck muscles aren't as developed and their heads are a larger percentage of their body weight. That leads to larger accelerations and harder brain/skull impacts. It's one thing to have a bad shoulder or knee or whatever because you can figure out how to work around it. But when you start losing cognitive ability there is really no way to adapt to that.
I played tackle football from 7th - 12th grade as a center. I do wonder if I'll have issues as I get older. And if I do, will it be because I played football? I've got all daughters so I don't have to worry about them playing football, but I do wonder about them playing soccer because it's been shown that heading the ball for years on end can have effects.
I played tackle football from 7th - 12th grade as a center. I do wonder if I'll have issues as I get older. And if I do, will it be because I played football? I've got all daughters so I don't have to worry about them playing football, but I do wonder about them playing soccer because it's been shown that heading the ball for years on end can have effects.
My favorite argument is the one based on machismo. "Let your boy play or he's a *****!"
I played. I got hurt. If you play, so could you. It's not about being tough because there is always someone tougher.
Parents make decisions based on perspective. Nobody is wrong in what they decide. But facts have been established and football has a greater inherent risk of head injury than other sports.
With that being said, I'm signing my kids up for ax throwing class. Few injuries that I've read about.
I played. I got hurt. If you play, so could you. It's not about being tough because there is always someone tougher.
Parents make decisions based on perspective. Nobody is wrong in what they decide. But facts have been established and football has a greater inherent risk of head injury than other sports.
With that being said, I'm signing my kids up for ax throwing class. Few injuries that I've read about.
I enjoyed all the sports you mentioned. Football was easily my favorite, though. And I never received all-conference honors or anything.
Football is a violent sport for sure. As hard as it must be for you to understand, the violence is what draws some of us to it. That and the unparalleled camaraderie required for eleven teammates to be successful.
During my school days, the kids that couldn't hack it on the field figured it out rather easily on their own. They didn't need their parents to decide for them. Not everybody's wired for it. Completely understandable.
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All you people that say 'I only have daughters so I don't have to worry about it' crack me up! Are they too girly to play or something?? Wasn't women's equality day just yesterday???
No, if my daughter wanted to play football, I'd have the same discussion with her. The difference is, when I say I don't have to worry about my daughter playing football, it's not because I think women can't play. It's because I know my daughter, having raised her to this point, and feel very comfortable in saying that football is probably not going to be her thing. I know her interests, and football is pretty far from them. Could that change? Sure. But, it would take a pretty seismic shift in her personality. Soccer? For sure. Ballet? Yep. Gymnastics? Definitely. Football? unlikely, but you never know.
Agreed, however, I feel strongly that the job of the parent is to be the bowling ball bumpers of a child's life path, within their ability to maneuver on their own. Young children need pretty close bumpers, and you give them more freedom as they grow. I think you'll probably make a good choice, but I know some parents who take the child's decision making ability way too far. They act like they're talking to little adults, and their cognitive and reasoning abilities just aren't there yet, no matter how smart they think their precious little snowflakes are.
All you people that say 'I only have daughters so I don't have to worry about it' crack me up! Are they too girly to play or something?? Wasn't women's equality day just yesterday???
My stepdaughter did competitive cheerleading and I witnessed many nasty injuries from falls at competitions.
I will support my kids in any endeavor they choose. I want them to experience life, which has all sorts of inherit risk, and injury in football is one of those risks.
Inherent, and I don't think that getting injured playing football is one of the inherent risks of life since you could just not do that.
I say if you are going to get a concussion doing it while you are young and still developing is the way to go. Kind of like breaking a bone, it will heal faster when you are young.
Seriously though, I had more concussions playing baseball than I did playing football while growing up.
Seriously though, I had more concussions playing baseball than I did playing football while growing up.
I don't have kids yet, but I would not have a problem with them playing football. The thing I don't agree with is youth tackle football. I don't get any argument for it especially when you stack those arguments against the data and studies against it. You shouldn't play youth football for mostly the same reasons you shouldn't drink or smoke weed as a youth; your brain is still developing and is more vulnerable to damage.
Further, I don't buy the argument that you need to start young in order to develop proper tackling technique. That's bogus, you can learn to tackle properly at any level.
Play flag football from 3rd through 6th grade (maybe even 7th based on brain development data) to learn the ropes so to say, then play tackle after that.
Further, I don't buy the argument that you need to start young in order to develop proper tackling technique. That's bogus, you can learn to tackle properly at any level.
Play flag football from 3rd through 6th grade (maybe even 7th based on brain development data) to learn the ropes so to say, then play tackle after that.
You really can't do anything in life without risk. Inherent may have been the wrong term, but every time that kid jumps in a car, rides a bike, canoes down a river, goes for a hike, etc they will encounter risk.
I hit my head on the ceiling and got a concussion when walking down my stairs into the basement, maybe I shouldn't go into my basement anymore.
