Jaelin Fisher

Ms. Turgeon

Uwrt 1101-003

2/20/17

Should Parents Let Their Children Play Football?

Football is a game that requires sacrifice, toughness, teamwork, leadership, and

selflessness. These requirements allow the game of football to be a platform for young boys to

develop and grow into better men. There are countless positive aspects of playing Americas

most popular sport, but safety concerns that have risen in recent years have caused many adults

nationwide to reconsider whether their children should be playing football. These parents have

valid concerns, considering football has the highest concussion rate of any sport. But what it

comes down to is the fact that although there is a higher risk of head trauma playing football as

opposed to sports such as soccer or basketball, every organized sport has risk and in the case of

football the reward outweighs that risk. The positive things that Americas kids can get out of

football outweigh the medical concerns. When speaking on the subject, Father and former

Detroit Lions Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders once said to USA today that the

gridiron may be the worlds best classroom for teaching teamwork, communication, hard work

and goal-setting. He explains that he has carried the lessons hes learned from football

throughout his life, and so has his son. He credits football to providing him with an exceptional

college education and molding him into a young man of confidence and discipline. Barry

Sanders and his son speak to the two most important reasons why parents should let their
children play football; the lessons that are applied to the real world through football and the ways

that football can positively impact the future of players. Parents should feel good about letting

their children play football because it is a sport with endless opportunity that allows kids to

develop many important skills and philosophies that they can use for the rest of their lives.

The obvious and valid counter argument revolves around the danger of the sport,

specifically the high rate of concussions in comparison to other sports. The new statistics that

scare todays parents the most are the long term affects that concussions may have on people

years after they stop playing. In specific, research ties CTE, a progressive degenerative disease

of the brain, directly to football. Most alarming to the football community was the study carried

out by Boston University that showed that out of 100 deceased NFL players, over 95% were

diagnosed with CTE (Breech). There are two things that should be strongly considered by

parents deciding whether to let their kids play when regarding this research. First off, we are

talking about NFL veterans. 6.5% of high school football players will play in the NCAA and

1.5% of that 6.5% will get a shot at the NFL and an even smaller percent will last more than four

years in the NFL. So, if youre wondering whether to let your kid play youth league or high

school football, you shouldnt base your decision off those statistics. Second, realize that the data

that presented that 95% of NFL players in the study were diagnosed with CTE is skewed. CTE

cannot be detected until after death because the information needed lies within the brain tissue.

Many of the brains that were donated to the study were those of people who believed they

already had the disease (Kerr-Dineen).

Dr. William Meehan, the leader of the Boston Childrens Hospitals sports concussion

clinic, author of Kids, Sports, and Concussion, and director of the Micheli Center for Sports

Injury Prevention in Waltham, which offers concussion prevention programs, doesnt believe the
risk of concussion should prevent children from playing football. He explains that given the

number of athletes whove played Pop Warner and high school football, [hed] be really

surprised if there is increased risk [of CTE] and we havent seen itWere talking hundreds of

thousands or even millions of former players who would be suffering from this. I hate to see

people stop playing sports for something that is very, very low riskif theres any extra risk at

all. Basically, we would see much more people with long term brain injury effects if we were

just speaking on football in general; the studies were done on NFL players. This is not to say that

concussions cant be dangerous, but parents should not let a fear of future CTE be the reason

theyre most afraid of them. While Football does, statistically speaking, increase your sons

chance at concussion, kids get much better care and treatment today as opposed to ten years ago,

because now there is far more knowledge about concussions and a much higher priority put on

head safety. Some research shows that starting kids too early in tackle football can be dangerous.

Bostons Brigham and Womens Hospital found that NFL players who had begun playing

football before age 12 had a higher risk of altered brain development, as compared to players

who started later (Hamblin). Also, Ann McKee, the director of the Boston University Chronic

Traumatic Encephalopathy Center, said that she thinks that children under the age of 14 should

not play football. Their heads are a larger part of their body and their necks arent as strong as

adults so they are at higher risk of traumatic brain injury. If youre going to keep your children

away from football, it should only be when theyre young because in that case the reward does

not outweigh the risk. While I do think pop warner football can have many positive effects on

young kids, such as developing a sense of competitiveness, making friends, improving social

skills, and more, there isnt harm in starting kids on tackle football a little late. The most
significant impact that football can have in a kids life is when they are in high school and in

college.

Why? For starters kids are at an age in high school when they are learning who they are

and developing an identity. A lot of what determines theyre practices, personality, and ways of

thinking come from the influences around them. High school football can take even the most

troubled kids and transform them into positive, discipline, and confident people. If you play high

school football, youll experience and learn to handle very adverse situations. This is because

America idolizes high school football. It is by far the most popular sport and is taken most

serious at the high school level. It takes a tremendous amount of mental and physical toughness

to play football which is an important skill but its that toughness and the hours of work and time

you spend on the field and in school with the people on your team that make teammates brothers

for life. Thats why many football players become so sentimental about High School football. Its

the closeness that creates selflessness in players; theyre playing for something bigger than

themselves. Most importantly, it requires discipline and respect for authority, which both make

young boys grow up when they need to. Lastly, players are relied on by others. They inherit lots

of responsibility and they must learn how to handle it. If just one of the eleven players on the

field at one time screws up an assignment, the whole play can break down. Players must be

discipline in the most adverse situations with many others depending on them.

Second, kids are at an age where opportunity can come knocking at their doorstep. Every

year, a countless amount of kids who have no way of affording to go to college can receive an

education for free. Football is one of the few sports that you can receive a full scholarship for.

Although a low percentage of kids receive full scholarships, with how expensive it is to get a

college education today, it would be a crime for a parent to deprive their child of the opportunity
if he has the talent. If you combine both levels of division 1 football (FBS & FCS) NCAA

programs can have 148 guys on athletic scholarship per year. Other sports have far less money to

give out; such as basketball who can have thirteen people on scholarship per year, baseball who

can have twelve, or lacrosse who can have thirteen. The numbers are drastically different,

especially considering that many of the scholarships in other sports are not full rides like football

scholarships (College Athletic Scholarship Limits 2016-17).

Lastly, if youre fortunate enough to play at the college level, the lessons athletes learn

will prepare them for the real world. College sports are a full-time job, especially at the division

1 level. Division 1 football leads all other sports in amount of work at 43.3 hours per week

(O'SHAUGHNESSY). Because of this, college football players learn a valuable skill in time

management. They also experience sacrifice. They must sacrifice their time (43 hours per week

of it) and a lot of their social life. While other regular college students are partying and spending

time with their friends, college football players are managing classes with film study, weight

training, conditioning, and practice. Most importantly, college football players learn to work with

while simultaneously competing with both teammates they like and dont like, something that

can be directly transferred to the workplace.

High School and College football both are very significant times of young mens lives but for
various reasons. High school football allows for kids to create lifetime friendships, learn things
that mold them into the people they need to be, and give them the opportunity to earn a free
education for playing the game they love. College football can provide athletes with the skillsets
they need to be successful in the workplace. Employers know this so they are often quick to hire
former athletes. David K Williams of Forbes magazine explains that one should fill their
company with athletes for six reasons: They have the drive to practice a task rigorously,
relentlessly, and even in the midst of failure until they succeed, they achieve their goals, they
develop new skills, theyre exceptional entrepreneurs, they strive for balance, and work well with
partners and in teams. Considering college football has the toughest workload, college football
players are set up well for life after football. Its because of the many positive impacts of both
high school and college football that the reward of letting your child play the sport outweighs the
risk of head trauma.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/01/24/barry-sanders-let-your-kids-play-
football-risks-brain-injury-concussion/79265468/

https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2014/02/28/should-you-let-your-child-play-
football/pNbZLtK3ubchHXptuNJoHP/story.html

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/study-956-percent-of-deceased-nfl-players-
tested-positive-for-cte/

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/09/what-are-the-odds-of-making-it-to-the-nfl

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/10/football-kids-heads/504863/

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/8-things-you-should-know-about-sports-scholarships/

http://www.scholarshipstats.com/ncaalimits.html

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidkwilliams/2013/10/02/why-you-should-fill-your-
company-with-athletes/#3f49b61653cd