When an injury occurs due to a flagrant fowl, the offending player should sit out all future games until the injured player is able to return. Could be a full season, could be the rest of his athletic career. When parents and coaches stop screaming to the players to "take him out" "get him!!" because of the potential penalty, the avoidable injuries will stop.
2
King hits -- sucker punches -- by drunken young men killed 90 persons a year in Australia. Youth football in the '50s was often coached by tramatized volunteers who were WWII vets and/or alcoholic law enforcement and parents did unto youth players what was done unto them as youths.
In the early '60s I begged off marching in voter registration protests for fear of a baton taking out my mental faculties. I have regreted this decision since.
Yesterday a 'roid-rage style faather/son Domestic Violence altercation took place with a double concussed football player. No lack of concussion monitoring, top medical treatment and coaching response.
Go to the cause by attacking the judiciary for not moving dockets to hear concussion cases for 15 or more years, if ever -- mostly due to sealed settlements.
Hopefully a moral judge will give Jeff Kessler a chance to say his piece in court, able to confront the NCAA under oath in compliance with the Rules of Federal Evidence. NCAA is comprised of 1,280 voluntary members, many controlled by state legislatures.
God bless America.
In the early '60s I begged off marching in voter registration protests for fear of a baton taking out my mental faculties. I have regreted this decision since.
Yesterday a 'roid-rage style faather/son Domestic Violence altercation took place with a double concussed football player. No lack of concussion monitoring, top medical treatment and coaching response.
Go to the cause by attacking the judiciary for not moving dockets to hear concussion cases for 15 or more years, if ever -- mostly due to sealed settlements.
Hopefully a moral judge will give Jeff Kessler a chance to say his piece in court, able to confront the NCAA under oath in compliance with the Rules of Federal Evidence. NCAA is comprised of 1,280 voluntary members, many controlled by state legislatures.
God bless America.
1
It's very common in articles about concussions, including this one, to emphasize the importance of treatment. However, it's important to realize that there really is no treatment for concussion. There are no drugs and the brain has a very limited capacity to repair itself. The only way to avoid permanent long term effects is to avoid head trauma. The sad truth is that means either accepting that engaging is some sports such as football will cause long term brain damage or deciding to stick to spots that don't carry such a high risk, such as tennis.
8
The yapping - "when I played no helmets and we banged our heads on gravel play yards and loved it" is over"...
Comstock is slightly wrong about the "safety of tennis" - I've fractured my knee on a net post going for a short ball at 65 years old (now at 75 I just say "too good") - and whacked my head with one of those unforgiving graphite racquets (and the old Wilson Kramer woodies as well) - collisions with doubles partners can also be hurtful.
Comstock is slightly wrong about the "safety of tennis" - I've fractured my knee on a net post going for a short ball at 65 years old (now at 75 I just say "too good") - and whacked my head with one of those unforgiving graphite racquets (and the old Wilson Kramer woodies as well) - collisions with doubles partners can also be hurtful.
4
Thank you for this column but the likelihood that parents will stop taking their children to soccer practice, let alone not supporting the football team, is low. Just another example of not caring so much once the "unborn" become the "born."
3
This sounds remarkably like the panic that has led to playgrounds being made antiseptic and a lot less fun. No one can be protected from everything. It is true we treat coaches like they all Patton and sports as what it is, a substitute for war. If we tone the military aspects of sport, treat coaches as people, and recognize that sports entail risk as does crossing the street a lot of things will be improved.
Not to diminish the points in Mr. Bruni's essay, but I am interested in knowing if there is any evidence that the equipment used to enhance performance in sports exacerbates injuries. E.g. Do cleats give an athlete more traction than is good for him or her? Do they cause more knee injuries? Do they amplify collisions?
Anecdotally, my years playing backyard football barefoot and with no protective gear or traction-enhancing equipment resulted in a few broken arms, but I don't recall any concussions. Of course... I don't recall any. Perhaps that's a symptom?
Anecdotally, my years playing backyard football barefoot and with no protective gear or traction-enhancing equipment resulted in a few broken arms, but I don't recall any concussions. Of course... I don't recall any. Perhaps that's a symptom?
4
Just One In A Hundred ...
I could show you hundreds of videos like this one (it's only 8 seconds long). You may be horrified, but this is what football is all about. For a performance like this the big boys either get to play with no compensation whatsoever on NFL farm teams (i.e., at those universities in the SEC, the Big Ten, the ACC, the Big 12, the PAC 12, etc.) or they will make big bucks in the NFL ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf-qgqLqzds
I wonder how you could possibly watch this and let your youngsters play football ... or hockey for that matter ... or any number of other sports in which they risk brain damage. A broken arm is repairable, but a brain that's damaged at age16 is damaged for "life."
I could show you hundreds of videos like this one (it's only 8 seconds long). You may be horrified, but this is what football is all about. For a performance like this the big boys either get to play with no compensation whatsoever on NFL farm teams (i.e., at those universities in the SEC, the Big Ten, the ACC, the Big 12, the PAC 12, etc.) or they will make big bucks in the NFL ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf-qgqLqzds
I wonder how you could possibly watch this and let your youngsters play football ... or hockey for that matter ... or any number of other sports in which they risk brain damage. A broken arm is repairable, but a brain that's damaged at age16 is damaged for "life."
4
Or,this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki2aV4gnQPU
Is that cheering after the collision?
Is that cheering after the collision?
2
Following one around through baseball, soccer, and football, I think I have seen it all - concussions, broken noses, broken legs, heat stroke, even a high school senior who required Tommy John surgery.
I agree, all high schools with football teams should have a full-time athletic trainers, and coaches should have some sort of first-aid/medical training to spot such.
But, I'm all for sports --- it is an active child's saving grace. We have one in our family, who at the age of 3, if you were busy, and he wanted a glass of milk, he would scale the kitchen cupboards for a glass and then rescale them with the milk in tow. There was no stopping this young man. I can't imagine the kind of trouble he would be in, if baseball hadn't caught his eye.
Of course, it was a caretakers saving grace, too --- the only way to keep the child busy in some organized fashion was to toss the baseball back and forth or chase him around the yard with the soccer ball. (We were just teasing him at Thanksgiving about some of the trouble he got himself into when he wasn't playing sports, like the rounded corner on the fireplace hearth, where he was breaking geodes.)
Yes, they get hurt, but I'm all for sports. However, they always need to have a Plan B. I would tell ours to study, and he would get in my face, grab my cheeks, look me in the eye and tell me, "I'm going to play baseball". And, I would grab his cheek and say, "get upstairs and study!"
I agree, all high schools with football teams should have a full-time athletic trainers, and coaches should have some sort of first-aid/medical training to spot such.
But, I'm all for sports --- it is an active child's saving grace. We have one in our family, who at the age of 3, if you were busy, and he wanted a glass of milk, he would scale the kitchen cupboards for a glass and then rescale them with the milk in tow. There was no stopping this young man. I can't imagine the kind of trouble he would be in, if baseball hadn't caught his eye.
Of course, it was a caretakers saving grace, too --- the only way to keep the child busy in some organized fashion was to toss the baseball back and forth or chase him around the yard with the soccer ball. (We were just teasing him at Thanksgiving about some of the trouble he got himself into when he wasn't playing sports, like the rounded corner on the fireplace hearth, where he was breaking geodes.)
Yes, they get hurt, but I'm all for sports. However, they always need to have a Plan B. I would tell ours to study, and he would get in my face, grab my cheeks, look me in the eye and tell me, "I'm going to play baseball". And, I would grab his cheek and say, "get upstairs and study!"
The worst trauma of high school and college football is not the permanently damaged brain but the importance given to that sport by schools and parents. Too much time and money spent there rather than telling students that their future rests in getting good grades. America as a whole is brain damaged beyond repair.
15
Great article. Bruni is exactly right about our worship of sports being the culprit. This worship is further exacerbated by colleges giving massive preferences to athletic recruits. Even elite colleges could not escape this sports worship trap. Stanford does not even have an academic floor when it comes to athletic recruits. If they want an athlete bad enough, any grade or test scores will do.
The Ivy League claims that they do have an academic floor, but massive preferences are still given to applicants in all manners of sports as a way to boost not just black enrollment but also white enrollment. Beyond the traditional team sports such as football, basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer or lacrosse, these schools also actively recruit those who excel in rich kids sports such as crew, polo, fencing, equestrian and many Olympic sports.
A couple of months ago a 17 year old in one of our area high schools died from concussion during a football practice. It didn't make much of a ripple. Most people just treated it as an anomaly and quickly moved on. The NYT isn't helping. The only time the Times mention a non Ivy League school is during football or basketball season, or on a fraternity infraction.
This whole worship of sports has got to die. Our colleges need to return their focus to education rather than sports. ESPN is a major enabler. Hopefully with ESPN now in financial trouble and no longer able to pay huge contracts to the colleges, this trend will taper off.
The Ivy League claims that they do have an academic floor, but massive preferences are still given to applicants in all manners of sports as a way to boost not just black enrollment but also white enrollment. Beyond the traditional team sports such as football, basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer or lacrosse, these schools also actively recruit those who excel in rich kids sports such as crew, polo, fencing, equestrian and many Olympic sports.
A couple of months ago a 17 year old in one of our area high schools died from concussion during a football practice. It didn't make much of a ripple. Most people just treated it as an anomaly and quickly moved on. The NYT isn't helping. The only time the Times mention a non Ivy League school is during football or basketball season, or on a fraternity infraction.
This whole worship of sports has got to die. Our colleges need to return their focus to education rather than sports. ESPN is a major enabler. Hopefully with ESPN now in financial trouble and no longer able to pay huge contracts to the colleges, this trend will taper off.
10
What happens to most people after they've played sports through high school or college? Do they continue to be active or do they spend their days sitting at desks and their evenings sitting at home in front of the TV? I'd like to see statistics on what good sports early in life are to middle age and later.
3
It depends on the acitivty and the person. Our daughter was in dance for eight years. When she and most of her peers quit formal dance lessons in high school, we noticed a change in mood, diet and overall stress. All for the better. Dance teachers can be worse than coaches - demanding adherence to unreasonable diets, unreasonable body types and ignoring the potential damage done to still developing muscles. I've heard ballet instructors encouraging 12 year olds to "push past the pain."
For sports, our kids ran XC and played baseball. The XC coaches emphasized lifelong health and exercise. From baseball our son learned the benefit of focus and practice. Our daughter, not one to bond with other girls automatically in her youth, learned about teamwork and relationships from soccer. Also from her first soccer coach - stretch before exercise.
Our kids have taken what they learned or developed in sports and have done two good things with it - they brought us along and they keep up healthy activities. We were always active -- mostly basketball and tennis - but became distance runners because the kids liked to run. We run on our own now that they are grown up. The kids run, practice yoga and pilates and stay fit.
For sports, our kids ran XC and played baseball. The XC coaches emphasized lifelong health and exercise. From baseball our son learned the benefit of focus and practice. Our daughter, not one to bond with other girls automatically in her youth, learned about teamwork and relationships from soccer. Also from her first soccer coach - stretch before exercise.
Our kids have taken what they learned or developed in sports and have done two good things with it - they brought us along and they keep up healthy activities. We were always active -- mostly basketball and tennis - but became distance runners because the kids liked to run. We run on our own now that they are grown up. The kids run, practice yoga and pilates and stay fit.
1
In Jan. 2014 a federal judge denied preliminary approval of a $765 million settlement of NFL concussion claims, fearing it may not be enough to cover 20,000 retired players. It wasn`t.
Mommas , don`t let your babies to grow up playing football. Protect their health and future well being.
Mommas , don`t let your babies to grow up playing football. Protect their health and future well being.
2
As a teacher, I saw too many kids without a brain. I do not think sports will harm these. In fact, they are the ones who go into sports as a career.
1
Tennis, anyone?
5
The play that is essential to a child's development always carries some risk of accidental injury or death. Team sports promote physical and social development at a cost. Football is especially hazardous, baseball, soccer, and basketball less so, but none so hazardous as skateboarding, rough-housing, and teenage driving.
A few changes to sports attire and rules of play would reduce the risk of serious injury. In sports attire, least is safest, with few exceptions. Football players, both amateur and professional, should discard their preposterous Star Wars armor in favor of the attire of soccer players. They should even play bareback and barefoot in fair weather; football is meant to be a contact sport, isn’t it?
In contact sports, helmets are restrictive and burdensome, more likely to cause than prevent injury; baseball batting helmets are the exception. Head shots should be banned from soccer. Male groin protection gear, appropriate to the sport, should be mandatory.
Change must start with the professional sports teams rather than the amateurs who idolize them. If the NFL teams took to the field in nothing but jockstraps, the amateurs would follow, and football would attract new fans in droves. Isn’t show, as well as play, the point of professional sports?
A few changes to sports attire and rules of play would reduce the risk of serious injury. In sports attire, least is safest, with few exceptions. Football players, both amateur and professional, should discard their preposterous Star Wars armor in favor of the attire of soccer players. They should even play bareback and barefoot in fair weather; football is meant to be a contact sport, isn’t it?
In contact sports, helmets are restrictive and burdensome, more likely to cause than prevent injury; baseball batting helmets are the exception. Head shots should be banned from soccer. Male groin protection gear, appropriate to the sport, should be mandatory.
Change must start with the professional sports teams rather than the amateurs who idolize them. If the NFL teams took to the field in nothing but jockstraps, the amateurs would follow, and football would attract new fans in droves. Isn’t show, as well as play, the point of professional sports?
2
We need a rule for all sports K-12 that says everyone on the team plays. No one sits on the bench for the entire game.
Divide up the amount of time off the bench depending on the sport, but make sure everyone gets equal playing time.
Less time on the field for a given child = less chance of a concussion. And it strips the coaches of the power to play a child past injury.
Divide up the amount of time off the bench depending on the sport, but make sure everyone gets equal playing time.
Less time on the field for a given child = less chance of a concussion. And it strips the coaches of the power to play a child past injury.
2
Every well educated, thoughtful parent I talk to would never let their own son participate in American football, a sport which all research as shown has the capability to cause brain damage at unacceptably high rates. Yet, it is ok to support this sport doing this to other people's sons? Is any support worth this risk? Maybe American passions need to shift to less gladiatorial sports that do nt involve crashing anther human being to the ground. Let's at least no longer pretend that being an American football fanatic is nothing but a proposition involving hypocrisy and denial of science.
6
Compare brain injuries in sports in high school and college, with drug overdoes and other "preventable" injuries from drug use. Hard drugs like heroin are causing havoc and death in our high schools.
Playing competitive sports in middle school and high school has always been a counterweight to other "recreation," like drug use. I don't have any empirical data, but my guess from playing and coaching sports is that athletes are less likely to use hard drugs than a student who is drifting or simply has too much time on his or her hands.
Sports are hyper-competitive, no question about it, and that hyper-competitiveness leads schools who want more sports dollars, students who want more exposure and parents who want scholarships, to "worship" sports. While it might be excessive, sports creates opportunity that would not otherwise be there. Not the same for drug use.
Let's work on safety, but not diminish the value sports brings to our youth. And while we're taking care of our children's brains, let's not forget the real evil that lurks for high school students who are not engaged in meaningful activities outside of class. Ignoring drug use and pounding on sports as a danger for our kids is like focusing on a broken finger for a patient who has cancer.
Playing competitive sports in middle school and high school has always been a counterweight to other "recreation," like drug use. I don't have any empirical data, but my guess from playing and coaching sports is that athletes are less likely to use hard drugs than a student who is drifting or simply has too much time on his or her hands.
Sports are hyper-competitive, no question about it, and that hyper-competitiveness leads schools who want more sports dollars, students who want more exposure and parents who want scholarships, to "worship" sports. While it might be excessive, sports creates opportunity that would not otherwise be there. Not the same for drug use.
Let's work on safety, but not diminish the value sports brings to our youth. And while we're taking care of our children's brains, let's not forget the real evil that lurks for high school students who are not engaged in meaningful activities outside of class. Ignoring drug use and pounding on sports as a danger for our kids is like focusing on a broken finger for a patient who has cancer.
2
Thanks for this measured response. I would add that sports are also a path away from obesity and maybe, just maybe, the increased enthusiasm about youth sports has contributed to the recent decline in the number of overweight kids. We need to be sensible when it comes to head injuries but we cannot let an exaggerated fear of concussions blind us to the immediate and long-term benefits of sports.
I think Frank is exactly right, and I would point out that youth leagues are a source of particular worry. Leagues provide varying degrees of training, there's no doctor or athletic trainer on the field, and volunteer parent coaches are simply not qualified to make decisions about whether a player is ok to return to the field after injury.I've seen youth coaches put kids, including their own, back on the field confused and stumbling after a hard hit or fall and I'm not willing to let someone else make that judgment for my kids. I'm not there to coach my kids on the field, to be sure, but I've made the effort to educate myself and will be the one to make the call about whether my son or daughter goes back out after an injury, especially a hit to the head. They're children, for pete's sake, and sitting out of a game when you're eleven means absolutely nothing in life.
2
Apart from the injury risk, one of the worst aspects of the sports fetish is the idea that someone must always win. You learn to help the team win, 'take one' for the team and shut up. Unfortunately you don't learn to cooperate with the opposing side to find middle ground and you don't learn that winning isn't everything. These are lessons the US would do well to remember when it deals in the field of international relations. If the current election campaigns are any indication, we are not likely to go that way. Oh well.
7
If parents had more information not just about the monumental risks but the horrific outcomes their children face in the transition from childhood brain to adult brain, they could make more informed choices about what their children do. Catastrophic changes to the brain can lead to a lifetime of pain and suffering. Sports do have benefits, but accidents happen, and physical insults to the brain can sometimes not be avoided.
The brain is incredibly complex and fragile, and we don't know, nor can we adequately explain, the twists and turns this vital organ takes. The young are frighteningly vulnerable to dreadful mental illnesses as they leave their teens and enter adulthood. Schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, and borderline personality disorder generally appear without warning and for no apparent reason at this time in life. Are they injury related? Who knows? The sad fact is that there is a percentage of families out there with young teens who are tragically headed for this hell. Perhaps if parents were more exposed to the every-minute-of-every-day, excruciating, no-end-in-sight, hide-it-from-society, pray-they-don't-hurt or-kill-themselves-or-anybody-else, it-can-happen-to-anyone, doctors-know-so-little, there-is-so-little-help-available, what-kind-of-life-is-he/she-ever-going-to-have, visitation on their lives of inexplicable, incurable brain-related trauma possibilities, they would have a fighting chance to be smart about their children's brains.
The brain is incredibly complex and fragile, and we don't know, nor can we adequately explain, the twists and turns this vital organ takes. The young are frighteningly vulnerable to dreadful mental illnesses as they leave their teens and enter adulthood. Schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, and borderline personality disorder generally appear without warning and for no apparent reason at this time in life. Are they injury related? Who knows? The sad fact is that there is a percentage of families out there with young teens who are tragically headed for this hell. Perhaps if parents were more exposed to the every-minute-of-every-day, excruciating, no-end-in-sight, hide-it-from-society, pray-they-don't-hurt or-kill-themselves-or-anybody-else, it-can-happen-to-anyone, doctors-know-so-little, there-is-so-little-help-available, what-kind-of-life-is-he/she-ever-going-to-have, visitation on their lives of inexplicable, incurable brain-related trauma possibilities, they would have a fighting chance to be smart about their children's brains.
1
Our little youth basketball league always passes out a warning about concussion at the start of each season. Most parents just throw it out without even a cursory glance. I've seen parents who refuse to intervene after their kids appeared to have suffered a concussion, and allowed the child to play on. It's their way of showing their kids are "tough".
1
23 days ago, a big kid took me out, accidentally sliding into the back of my ice skates, plopping me on my back like a rag doll. I was the nerd wearing a helmet, but you wouldn't know it. My head aches just from typing this now. My neck aches from making dinner. And what was that word I was thinking of? Give me at least six times as long to remember it. At least I'm avoiding the personality changes--depression and anxiety--that the assessor asked me about so carefully.
Sorry, now that I have experienced a concussion, my kids will be swimming--I swam for years with no concussion--, hiking. Walking, biking without racing. Dance class as long as it's not "team" dancing. Gymnastics for fun but not competition. (Did anybody talk about concussion risk in gymnastics? I'd bet it's there)
Sorry, now that I have experienced a concussion, my kids will be swimming--I swam for years with no concussion--, hiking. Walking, biking without racing. Dance class as long as it's not "team" dancing. Gymnastics for fun but not competition. (Did anybody talk about concussion risk in gymnastics? I'd bet it's there)
36
Our children should be guided toward music, literature and art... What a pleasure to love doing something that will continue to give you pleasure (and no pain or physical damage whatsoever) for the entirety of a very long life.
1
I dated two boys in high school who were football players. One constantly complained about his back and knees, and the other was sidelined for a ruptured spleen- at age 16! I will always remember how grateful my parents were that my brothers eschewed junior and high school football for tennis.
5
Your first line speaks volumes. Tell us, did you enjoy watching them play?
I disagree strenuously I played linebacker through high school I was taught to tackle by not leading by my helmet. Our coaches stressed that.
I have several friends who played in the NFL. To me there is no discernable difference in their cognitive skills and I have known them for years
Abby Wombach scored 77 goals in her career off headers. Is that at risk? Isn't it her choice or anyone else's?
The problem is we are treating kids like pieces of Waterford crystal and that to me is detrimental. Will they be treated that way when they leave home? This cocoon of safety in no way prepares them for the realities of life.
Playing sports taught me to work as a team towards a common, to improve my performance, to set goals. to work as a unit It taught me to train, to lift weights and I developed a sense of unity with people who didn't look like me or act like me but who were committed to a common goal. To win the conference championship Was it worth the risk? To me it was.
I am having an MRI on my right shoulder to see if I have a torn rotator cuff after the 1st of the year. In Feb I see a hand surgeon for torn ligaments in my wrist. I just had my 14th cortisone injection to go along with 3 Supartz injections in each knee. Are my injuries from football? No 20 years of powerlifting I knew the risks, I knew what would happen, and I chose to to it anyway. Shouldn't these people have the right to find out for themselves?
I have several friends who played in the NFL. To me there is no discernable difference in their cognitive skills and I have known them for years
Abby Wombach scored 77 goals in her career off headers. Is that at risk? Isn't it her choice or anyone else's?
The problem is we are treating kids like pieces of Waterford crystal and that to me is detrimental. Will they be treated that way when they leave home? This cocoon of safety in no way prepares them for the realities of life.
Playing sports taught me to work as a team towards a common, to improve my performance, to set goals. to work as a unit It taught me to train, to lift weights and I developed a sense of unity with people who didn't look like me or act like me but who were committed to a common goal. To win the conference championship Was it worth the risk? To me it was.
I am having an MRI on my right shoulder to see if I have a torn rotator cuff after the 1st of the year. In Feb I see a hand surgeon for torn ligaments in my wrist. I just had my 14th cortisone injection to go along with 3 Supartz injections in each knee. Are my injuries from football? No 20 years of powerlifting I knew the risks, I knew what would happen, and I chose to to it anyway. Shouldn't these people have the right to find out for themselves?
1
While I agree with most of,your comments, the place where we part, is your last sentence and it's apparent (possibly not intentional) skipping of the fact that most of this essay is focusing on football and other high contact sports being payed by children. Children lack the ability to make rational choices. And, as was the key premise of this essay, too many parents lack the knowledge or desire to learn so they can make rational decisions for their children.
2
Yes they do. But too often kids are not aware of the long term consequences of injuries like concussion, and they are manipulated by the adults in their lives from parents to coaches into playing on with injuries.
1
From the standpoint of brain injury, focusing on concussions is necessary, but not enough. Big collisions, and their immediate effects, are relatively obvious and therefore relatively treatable and preventable. But the real problem may be the long term effect of less violent impacts -- "repetitive mild trauma, not the big blow to the head . . . [but] small, repetitive traumas," according to Dr. Ann McKee, who has studied athlete's brains extensively. Most sports do not require head trauma as part of the competition, and most incidents of concussion in other sports pointed out in this column are accidental, and of the "big blow to the head" variety. In football, as in boxing, players banging each other's heads is fundamental to the sport itself. Can this be eliminated or even significantly reduced? Probably not, and certainly not without the game suffering a big hit in popularity. All the concussion protocols in the world will not fix this aspect of football, which I guess is why no one wants to talk about it.
15
My mother was protective but I always look back on this and thank her so much. I once asked her why she would not let me play Football and started giving examples of Mohammed Ali and boxers which was totally unrelated but I could not be more wrong!
3
Professional sports are idolized in this country. I referee basketball and umpire baseball. Just about every parent thinks his/her kid is pro material and they spend a fortune sponsoring their kids in such organizations as AAU and travel ball. While traumas to the brain in basketball and baseball are less likely than in a collision sport such as football, the damage parents do to the emotional brains of their children regarding self-esteem is equally damaging when they excoriate a child for striking out ("You can't hit the damn pitch when it's that high") or not playing proper defense in basketball ("Why are you just standing there, put your body on him"). They forget that the most important element of sports competition is supposed to be fun. Instead they pervert it into a mean-spirited must win mentality which damages the brain in another but no less significant way. No child should be brought to tears on any field or court. And don't think the feeling of worthlessness from not performing up to a parent's standard doesn't often carry its way into adulthood. It does.
12
You are spot on. And I would add the coaches who want to win at all costs, ignoring the poor souls on the bench who are dying to play for just an inning or 3 minutes. When my 11-year-old sat out game after game after game in summer baseball (and he was actually quite a good athlete but the coach wanted only to play his powerhouses and win by a wide margin), I pulled him.
I never propounded being a quitter but I told him that sports are supposed to be fun and when the fun ceases, there is no point in continuing. Which is why we never did traveling sports either. City after city after city in summer? No time for fishing or a family bike ride much less a vacation? That is not my definition of fun!
I never propounded being a quitter but I told him that sports are supposed to be fun and when the fun ceases, there is no point in continuing. Which is why we never did traveling sports either. City after city after city in summer? No time for fishing or a family bike ride much less a vacation? That is not my definition of fun!
3
This article is very important and should be required reading for all sports. As a participant in rugby in college and afterwards I know the prevelance of head injury is common and often ignored.
1
Besides concussions and the other hazards mentioned here, there are cases of paraplegia from snapped necks playing football. For that reason alone, and decades ago - before widespread awareness of concussion hazard - my kids were prohibited from playing football. Call me un-American.
3
YOUR KID'S BRAIN Is the most precious thing to a family. Most families have been brought up on the myth that there is no harm in constant concussions and other sports injuries. Even worse, many believe that the children should choose what they want for themselves.
There are laws that require children to sit in car seats until a certain age and to wear seatbelts whenever they're riding in a car. If the kids could choose, most of them would probably prefer to be free to go wherever they wanted in the car, open the doors while it's moving and stick their head out of the windows. But we protect kids from those dangers with laws.
There are also laws to protect children from neglect and abuse. If parents let their kids do dangerous things then mandated reporters must respond and the neglect or abuse be investigated by child protective services. The same needs to happen with kids playing violent sports where their brains and even their lives can be destroyed.
The problem is that the adults are entertained and gratified by the violent sports. They believe in the myth that they're toughening their kids up for the challenges they will face in the adult world. But if the kids have brain damage, it will affect their lives adversely from the time the concussions start until, in the worst cases, the brain injuries end up being the cause of the kids' deaths.
All mandated reporters must report schools for medical and physical and/or neglect that cause concussions & death.
There are laws that require children to sit in car seats until a certain age and to wear seatbelts whenever they're riding in a car. If the kids could choose, most of them would probably prefer to be free to go wherever they wanted in the car, open the doors while it's moving and stick their head out of the windows. But we protect kids from those dangers with laws.
There are also laws to protect children from neglect and abuse. If parents let their kids do dangerous things then mandated reporters must respond and the neglect or abuse be investigated by child protective services. The same needs to happen with kids playing violent sports where their brains and even their lives can be destroyed.
The problem is that the adults are entertained and gratified by the violent sports. They believe in the myth that they're toughening their kids up for the challenges they will face in the adult world. But if the kids have brain damage, it will affect their lives adversely from the time the concussions start until, in the worst cases, the brain injuries end up being the cause of the kids' deaths.
All mandated reporters must report schools for medical and physical and/or neglect that cause concussions & death.
1
Parents, don't allow your children to play contact sports. Their developing brain is their most valuable asset.
Let them play tennis or cross country running. Never let them play tackle football.
Let them play tennis or cross country running. Never let them play tackle football.
1
Yes to Bruni and to many comments from different angles. But our society is trying to idiot-proof itself. Here are future inventions: Text message disabler when user walks down street. Rage monitor in steering wheel. Alcohol sensor on gun trigger. GPS in every syringe.
Interesting column. Compare it with the front page article on Ronda Rousey. I cannot applaud young men battering each other into insensibility in MMA or regular boxing. (And I say this as a practitioner of martial arts for over 30 years.) And it only saddens me to see young women now celebrated for doing the same thing. I suppose they are perfectly free to do it, but I won't watch and I won't cheer them on as some sort of feminist pioneers.
1
Thanks you for this terrific, balance editorial about the risks and benefits of youth sports!
1
Spot on, Mr. Bruni. You did your homework on this one. Thank you.
1
Concussions may also disrupt the delicate oculomotor physiology used in reading, resulting in learning problems and lower academic achievement. Research on Visual Syntactic text formatting may help some of these concussion-based reading problems.
https://twitter.com/liveinkreading/status/678431839816560640
https://twitter.com/liveinkreading/status/678431839816560640
1
“What I would love to see is parents taking as much time to investigate their child’s coach, the league that they’re putting their child into and the officials officiating the game as they do a day care center when their child is young,”
My experience coaching was a lot different than what this wish describes. I coached football (ages 10 - 14) for 8 years with the Boys and Girls club. The coaches were required to take many classes in how to train these young players to avoid concussions, neck injuries and other terrible injuries. The parents of my teams often approached me with these concerns. And I was fortunate enough to have players who had a parent that was a doctor that often volunteered to check out players. In these 8 years I never had a player with a concussion. The most severe injury a player had was (unfortunately) a fractured arm.
So while my experience was different I acknowledge not every program is like this. Maybe something can be done to improve the other programs, certainly possible at the youth level anyway.
My experience coaching was a lot different than what this wish describes. I coached football (ages 10 - 14) for 8 years with the Boys and Girls club. The coaches were required to take many classes in how to train these young players to avoid concussions, neck injuries and other terrible injuries. The parents of my teams often approached me with these concerns. And I was fortunate enough to have players who had a parent that was a doctor that often volunteered to check out players. In these 8 years I never had a player with a concussion. The most severe injury a player had was (unfortunately) a fractured arm.
So while my experience was different I acknowledge not every program is like this. Maybe something can be done to improve the other programs, certainly possible at the youth level anyway.
1
Thank you Frank, for putting this issue in view. While we can never completely eliminate danger to kids growing up, we can become informed and correct problems arising from ignorance. We can also temper our worship of sports.
I find it interesting that there are not a few comments from men asserting that if we protect our kids and players from brain trauma, that doing so will ruin all sports. Zero to sixty in one thought. Also, some believe this is related to progressive political views. That's too far a leap for me. I know plenty of progressive men who love to watch football, and may have played it in high school or college.
Read "The Last Child in the Woods," a book that deplores how contemporary children don't get outside anymore and have lost touch with nature. It's important that our children grow up active, that they train their bodies as well as their minds, and learn to enjoy and connect with nature. They need to ski, hike, play team sports, work out, and all the rest. They need to play, encounter danger, learn solutions by trial and error. That does not mean we need to allow them to be exposed to preventable injury in the name of competitive sports.
It's not the black and white issue that some commentors make it out to be, and it's not linked politically. Let's protect the kids and entertainers, shall we? In the immortal words of Mae West, "Macho ain't mucho." We can enjoy competitive sports without destroying ourselves and our kids.
I find it interesting that there are not a few comments from men asserting that if we protect our kids and players from brain trauma, that doing so will ruin all sports. Zero to sixty in one thought. Also, some believe this is related to progressive political views. That's too far a leap for me. I know plenty of progressive men who love to watch football, and may have played it in high school or college.
Read "The Last Child in the Woods," a book that deplores how contemporary children don't get outside anymore and have lost touch with nature. It's important that our children grow up active, that they train their bodies as well as their minds, and learn to enjoy and connect with nature. They need to ski, hike, play team sports, work out, and all the rest. They need to play, encounter danger, learn solutions by trial and error. That does not mean we need to allow them to be exposed to preventable injury in the name of competitive sports.
It's not the black and white issue that some commentors make it out to be, and it's not linked politically. Let's protect the kids and entertainers, shall we? In the immortal words of Mae West, "Macho ain't mucho." We can enjoy competitive sports without destroying ourselves and our kids.
2
"It’s not concussions per se but an unquestioning worship of sports that puts young lives in jeopardy."
What this outstanding column doesn't address is why there is an "unquestioning worship of sports" in our society.
A root cause is the unquestioned belief that participation in sports makes someone a better person, that lessons learned on the field will be valuable in later life. We place so much emphasis on sports as the crucible where a child's character is formed that not putting one's child on a team can seem like parental neglect. The child who hasn't played sports is going to be disadvantaged in life and will miss opportunities for advancement that come more easily to those who have been student athletes.
It's no wonder we're herding our youth into collisions that endanger their health.
We need to stop giving athletes preferential access to benefits that are in short supply in our society, most notably college admissions and employment opportunities. It makes no sense to continue the old-boy network where we let jocks hire jocks. We need instead to provide other avenues for our youth to develop interpersonal and leadership skills and a sense of fair play and team work, and we need to make sure they receive equal recognition for their accomplishments.
What this outstanding column doesn't address is why there is an "unquestioning worship of sports" in our society.
A root cause is the unquestioned belief that participation in sports makes someone a better person, that lessons learned on the field will be valuable in later life. We place so much emphasis on sports as the crucible where a child's character is formed that not putting one's child on a team can seem like parental neglect. The child who hasn't played sports is going to be disadvantaged in life and will miss opportunities for advancement that come more easily to those who have been student athletes.
It's no wonder we're herding our youth into collisions that endanger their health.
We need to stop giving athletes preferential access to benefits that are in short supply in our society, most notably college admissions and employment opportunities. It makes no sense to continue the old-boy network where we let jocks hire jocks. We need instead to provide other avenues for our youth to develop interpersonal and leadership skills and a sense of fair play and team work, and we need to make sure they receive equal recognition for their accomplishments.
21
Interestingly, I think most of the kids, who went through school with mine, who ended up with successful careers were the non-athletic nerds! And they aren't obese either. Many of them took up jogging, personal fitness, etc. as adults because as "smart" people, they know what's good for their personal health. We should be worshipping the brainiacs in school, not the athletes.
2
As a soccer fan, and ex-player, I know that injuries do occur more often than not, most of them reversible. However, there are limits to our endurance. Case in point, the hard head gear used in american football; it is used far too often as a weapon to stop 'cold' an adversary, with dire consequences. And our brain, likely our best and most important asset, may suffer irreversible injury, as amply demonstrated thus far, even as lip service has been paid far too often. A paradigm is needed in this regard, soft head gear (i.e. in rugby), that may save the day, and a life worth living, away from early dementia and premature death from traumatic brain injury. For now, a vigilant and caring coach is of the essence.
1
Having grown up two generations ago and having spent years playing two violent sports – wrestling and football – long before the danger of concussions was fully appreciated, I suggest that there are many reasons why parents today still act as though these dangers do not exist.
First, the parents assume, without checking, that the well-being of their son or daughter is being closely monitored and guarded by professional coaches and staffs. As Frank Bruni points out, this parental faith is misplaced.
Some parents, however, have a deeper problem. Part of their reason for not looking closely at the danger is parental selfishness. They live vicariously through their kids, basking in the reflected glory of their offspring on the playing field. When a daughter or son wins, the achievement makes up for something which may have escaped the parent through bad luck or lack of talent.
Most of the time, the motivation of the parent is for the child to do well, to fit in and to be liked by his or her peers. The happiness of the child is the sole driving force of the loving parent. Ironically, it often blinds that parent to guarding the physical well-being of the child.
First, the parents assume, without checking, that the well-being of their son or daughter is being closely monitored and guarded by professional coaches and staffs. As Frank Bruni points out, this parental faith is misplaced.
Some parents, however, have a deeper problem. Part of their reason for not looking closely at the danger is parental selfishness. They live vicariously through their kids, basking in the reflected glory of their offspring on the playing field. When a daughter or son wins, the achievement makes up for something which may have escaped the parent through bad luck or lack of talent.
Most of the time, the motivation of the parent is for the child to do well, to fit in and to be liked by his or her peers. The happiness of the child is the sole driving force of the loving parent. Ironically, it often blinds that parent to guarding the physical well-being of the child.
28
It isn't as if the choice is to either promote or ban risky behavior; the thoughtful option is to create as much safety as possible to protect growing children while allowing for sports participation, some of which is going to be more strenuous - and most of which will have definite risks. Children do not have the ability, overall, to foresee the consequences of their actions - so adults have to take responsibility. Injuries to the brain cannot be seen as "part of the game."
Football seems to have crossed over into an activity where deliberate injury to opponents was modeled by the pros, and imitated by too many coaches. I think that - at high school level - coaches are more informed than when I was young or when my stepsons were in school (where a wrestling coach 'expected' making weight, often accomplished by self induced vomiting and dehydration).
I understand that some people - young ones even more so - need to have real physical challenges. I have skied and ridden horses -- the latter being on of the most risky activities of all. My kids rode motorcycles. I wouldn't want to ban anything that someone else wants to do. But the best safety measures and protocols have to be in place when the participants are still growing. Someone knowledgeable and with power has to oversee organized sports to overrule each coach who thinks emulating a drill sergeant makes him Bear Bryant - or Woody Hayes.
Football seems to have crossed over into an activity where deliberate injury to opponents was modeled by the pros, and imitated by too many coaches. I think that - at high school level - coaches are more informed than when I was young or when my stepsons were in school (where a wrestling coach 'expected' making weight, often accomplished by self induced vomiting and dehydration).
I understand that some people - young ones even more so - need to have real physical challenges. I have skied and ridden horses -- the latter being on of the most risky activities of all. My kids rode motorcycles. I wouldn't want to ban anything that someone else wants to do. But the best safety measures and protocols have to be in place when the participants are still growing. Someone knowledgeable and with power has to oversee organized sports to overrule each coach who thinks emulating a drill sergeant makes him Bear Bryant - or Woody Hayes.
1
Not to cause a general panic amongst parents, but as a former high school principal, all sports, from junior leagues to high school and beyond, are coached by individuals whose primary qualification is they played a sport at one time or are coaching for a little additional money. Yes, coaches in my state, must be certified, and do receive training (a weekend workshop), but rarely do you run across a coach with the kind of health/medical knowledge described in this article. But beyond that very big problem, there is a mentality among coaches, especially very successful coaches, that winning is the goal, whatever the cost. Periodically, I found myself, talking with coaches about the topics in this article, and for the most part, there was a general agreement about counted most---the health and well-being of the young person. But, I always had a feeling in these meetings that I was considered a meddlesome bureaucrat , whose only goal was protecting the school against liability claim, and really had no clue about what it takes to develop a winning program.
37
"BUT head injuries are just one peril, and not necessarily the chief one, even in football."
This is shockingly naive. The more easily diagnosed injuries such as those you state have been on the sports medicine radar for decades and, anyway, affect a comparatively minuscule number of players. Head trauma, on the other hand, affects many if not most players and is rarely diagnosed. Research is showing that non-concussive blows to the head are more damaging than the classic "rung my bell" concussion because they occur far more frequently– on every play for most linemen– and are generally asymptomatic, at least from a traditional perspective. At least one study has shown a clear reduction of cognitive ability in football players simply after a hard practice!
This is shockingly naive. The more easily diagnosed injuries such as those you state have been on the sports medicine radar for decades and, anyway, affect a comparatively minuscule number of players. Head trauma, on the other hand, affects many if not most players and is rarely diagnosed. Research is showing that non-concussive blows to the head are more damaging than the classic "rung my bell" concussion because they occur far more frequently– on every play for most linemen– and are generally asymptomatic, at least from a traditional perspective. At least one study has shown a clear reduction of cognitive ability in football players simply after a hard practice!
1
I love sports. I played mostly soccer but also tried basketball (too short), softball (didn't like the line drives) and did two seasons of cheerleading during winter.
One big thing to consider also is that now these kids need to be all in with one sport. It has to be year round. There are constant away tournaments. I find it a bit silly. I was offered a scholarship to play soccer and turned it down because it wasn't the school I wanted. I'm not sure the parents fully understand that their child has a very small chance of getting an athletic scholarship and almost no chance of going pro.
They have knees like 40 year olds when they are seniors in high school, recurring injuries because they only play one sport and use the same muscles constantly. I get that parents and coaches get fired up at games. I've done it myself because I want my child to give their best effort.
But please, parents, let's face facts, your child is more likely to be carrying a laptop to work and not a football.
One big thing to consider also is that now these kids need to be all in with one sport. It has to be year round. There are constant away tournaments. I find it a bit silly. I was offered a scholarship to play soccer and turned it down because it wasn't the school I wanted. I'm not sure the parents fully understand that their child has a very small chance of getting an athletic scholarship and almost no chance of going pro.
They have knees like 40 year olds when they are seniors in high school, recurring injuries because they only play one sport and use the same muscles constantly. I get that parents and coaches get fired up at games. I've done it myself because I want my child to give their best effort.
But please, parents, let's face facts, your child is more likely to be carrying a laptop to work and not a football.
9
This is incredibly condescending. Though I am sure they are out there, I have never met a parent who was expecting to retire when their kids got their first million dollar contract. As for the trend toward specializing in a single sport, it is hardly universal. And it is much more motivated by a healthy pursuit of excellence than an expectation of a major league contract. As for knees ligaments, they are less likely to tear when your kids know what they're doing than when they go skiing for the first time. In fact, the three best marathoners in American history are still racing -- Benoit-Samuelson, Salazar, and Meb.
Most organized sports enterprises have issues with authoritarianism that play into this.
Most organized sports enterprises are ultimately managed by people, mostly white and mostly mail, who, even if volunteer, are very much about control and "learning to do things the right way"--which generally means their way, the way they've been taught by other authoritarian coaches and managers before them. That means an emphasis on traditional white/male values--yes, teamwork and sacrifice on one hand, but also stoicism and toughness and emotional repression (unless it's anger/aggression)--and a "my way or the highway" ethos--on the other.
This type of atmosphere contributes to parental and societal reluctance to police sports more closely. Add to that the possibility of glory, scholarship and even professional remuneration for sports activity (no matter how much of a long shot that is for most), and we afford sports, even youth leagues, a pass we wouldn't most other realms.
The change will only start with changes in attitudes. In particular, the people running our sports programs need more respect not only for bodies, but for values not traditionally associated with Western Civilization males.
Most organized sports enterprises are ultimately managed by people, mostly white and mostly mail, who, even if volunteer, are very much about control and "learning to do things the right way"--which generally means their way, the way they've been taught by other authoritarian coaches and managers before them. That means an emphasis on traditional white/male values--yes, teamwork and sacrifice on one hand, but also stoicism and toughness and emotional repression (unless it's anger/aggression)--and a "my way or the highway" ethos--on the other.
This type of atmosphere contributes to parental and societal reluctance to police sports more closely. Add to that the possibility of glory, scholarship and even professional remuneration for sports activity (no matter how much of a long shot that is for most), and we afford sports, even youth leagues, a pass we wouldn't most other realms.
The change will only start with changes in attitudes. In particular, the people running our sports programs need more respect not only for bodies, but for values not traditionally associated with Western Civilization males.
5
The research makes it possible to make better decisions, but does not affect the magical thinking of young men (mainly) or their parents. They believe that concussions won't lead to dementia in their particular case, and that an NFL career is a very real possibility. (At Lake Wobegon, all of the children are above average.)
Magical thinking causes some people to play the lottery. However, to play the lottery, one must pay for a ticket today. The magical thinkers who bash their heads together on the football field don't pay for their tickets until several years hence -- and by then it is too late.
I'm in favor of a new category of 'concussion insurance,' which would provide for an income supplement and medical care for those who suffer dementia following their participation in sports (football, boxing, etc.) earlier in life. All who participate in contact sports should have to purchase this insurance -- both to protect society from the vast expense of treating those who knowingly harm themselves (in the hope of becoming rich), and to eliminate the impression that what happens on the playing field today has no effect on the player's life 10-20 years hence.
Magical thinking causes some people to play the lottery. However, to play the lottery, one must pay for a ticket today. The magical thinkers who bash their heads together on the football field don't pay for their tickets until several years hence -- and by then it is too late.
I'm in favor of a new category of 'concussion insurance,' which would provide for an income supplement and medical care for those who suffer dementia following their participation in sports (football, boxing, etc.) earlier in life. All who participate in contact sports should have to purchase this insurance -- both to protect society from the vast expense of treating those who knowingly harm themselves (in the hope of becoming rich), and to eliminate the impression that what happens on the playing field today has no effect on the player's life 10-20 years hence.
31
Having received my education within the same school district in Pennsylvania in the 1960s and '70s, I must remark that we had kids whose parents made a pact with the devil I mean school board to keep them enrolled for additional years, by pretending they had deficiencies. This, so that the school district could claim a win at the Pennsylvania States' athletic competitions every spring, specifically in wrestling. The family I refer to had all its kids enrolled in various sports, and 40 years on I can state that the lack of emphasis on academic achievement, this in a school district that produced both Margaret Carlson of CNN fame and a Nobel laureate chemist, has not helped these people. Compelling children to swelter in Texan or Oklahoma August heat for the sake of being a high school varsity football player, is this worth the health risk to the kid? Will they not need to have a deep knowledge base from their first twelve years of education, rather than a highly developed physique with hidden but severe concussion damages when they achieve success later on in life?
12
Important article!
Now from the dark side, about a mother who overprotected her son born 75 years ago. When I begged, (yes, I'm that son) to join The Boys Club and lean to box like a friend told me about, she simply said "no." I blamed her for many of my problems of life, that she had instilled in too much fear so that it affected my own self image and ability to connect with others.
But, now being at this age that includes memory loss to some degree for everyone, I can only look back and thank her for this caution, even if there was am emotional cost. Actually, in our neighborhood before organized sports for kids existed, we had informal choose-up games of baseball and football, but it was either one or two handed touch. No tackling at all, but the fun was there.
Football is a staple even at the most elite universities, with salaries to coaches that define winning as of great worth. More epidemiological research on relationship between school football and dementia would be valuable, as it might illustrate the actual cost of contact sports.
AlRodbell.com
Now from the dark side, about a mother who overprotected her son born 75 years ago. When I begged, (yes, I'm that son) to join The Boys Club and lean to box like a friend told me about, she simply said "no." I blamed her for many of my problems of life, that she had instilled in too much fear so that it affected my own self image and ability to connect with others.
But, now being at this age that includes memory loss to some degree for everyone, I can only look back and thank her for this caution, even if there was am emotional cost. Actually, in our neighborhood before organized sports for kids existed, we had informal choose-up games of baseball and football, but it was either one or two handed touch. No tackling at all, but the fun was there.
Football is a staple even at the most elite universities, with salaries to coaches that define winning as of great worth. More epidemiological research on relationship between school football and dementia would be valuable, as it might illustrate the actual cost of contact sports.
AlRodbell.com
5
Al Rodbell,
The research you suggest in your comment about Frank Bruni's "Being Smart......." article, has already been done, by Bennet Omalu.
The character that Will Smith plays in the documentary, "Concusion" is Bennet Omalu.
Some organizations (NFL) are still playing the denial game, exactly like the Tobacco industry played with cigarettes, to protect their product.
The research you suggest in your comment about Frank Bruni's "Being Smart......." article, has already been done, by Bennet Omalu.
The character that Will Smith plays in the documentary, "Concusion" is Bennet Omalu.
Some organizations (NFL) are still playing the denial game, exactly like the Tobacco industry played with cigarettes, to protect their product.
2
Does anyone else appreciate the irony of the fact that any of these injuries, if inflected by parents, would result in criminal charges, but as long as the assailant is wearing an athletic costume, it's all good fun?
111
In the law, there is an exception for agreed upn violence - mutual combatants. In other words, both sides agreed to the violent intent of the game. What parent in their right mind would sign a waiver that says - I'm agreeing that some other child may hurt my child in the pursuit of a goal, tocuhdown, etc...? But that's what happens when kids put on the pads and uniform and go out on the field or ice (I live in a place called "The State of Hockey."). Adults neglect their basic repsonsiblity to their child - to keep them safe - in the pursuit of athletic glory.
2
the complexity of the brain ought to be enough to signal caution in it's protection and mindfulness, if you will, concerning its development from infancy to maturity, the latter bring as ill-considered by most, (certainly k-12 public school), educators as the consequences of impact by sports authorities...the absence of qualified trainers on the field is paralleled by the lack of qualified attention to cognition and learning in the classroom.
2
ecco - Ct.
But fMRI studies suggest that "maturity" (cause/correlation/consequence & decision making ability), is usually achieved by age 25 - 30.
This would seem to be post secondary school as well as university.
But fMRI studies suggest that "maturity" (cause/correlation/consequence & decision making ability), is usually achieved by age 25 - 30.
This would seem to be post secondary school as well as university.
All men are created equal, or perhaps not.
Due to poor choices by mothers, and later on by the children themselves, some kids simply don't reach their intellectual potential.
Plenty of low-income mums-to-be smoke, drink and do drugs whilst they're pregnant, all of which do damage to the fetus, particularly brains development.
Assuming the fetus fully develops and is born, the mental degradation only continues. Poisonous chemicals and elements abound in low income housing and houses. Lead paint, second hand smoke, drugs, and/or the residues of previous occupants drug use, etc. And thats is just the physiological part.
Low income parents are less likely to read to their children and pass on expansive vocabularies to their children. By kindergarten, the child will be behind their more privileged peers. Throughout their elementary and middle school days they will likely fall behind.
Assuming the chemicals their mother used didn't diminish them physically, they may start playing sports. Assuming they go into a contact sport, they will likely face some sort of concussion, or head injury.
Concussions are the last element in an array of mentally extinguishing events and elements that affect a child's brain development.
But the time the child is ready to enter the workforce, or go to college, they will be far behind the emotional and mental development of their peers. They will not have been created equal.
Due to poor choices by mothers, and later on by the children themselves, some kids simply don't reach their intellectual potential.
Plenty of low-income mums-to-be smoke, drink and do drugs whilst they're pregnant, all of which do damage to the fetus, particularly brains development.
Assuming the fetus fully develops and is born, the mental degradation only continues. Poisonous chemicals and elements abound in low income housing and houses. Lead paint, second hand smoke, drugs, and/or the residues of previous occupants drug use, etc. And thats is just the physiological part.
Low income parents are less likely to read to their children and pass on expansive vocabularies to their children. By kindergarten, the child will be behind their more privileged peers. Throughout their elementary and middle school days they will likely fall behind.
Assuming the chemicals their mother used didn't diminish them physically, they may start playing sports. Assuming they go into a contact sport, they will likely face some sort of concussion, or head injury.
Concussions are the last element in an array of mentally extinguishing events and elements that affect a child's brain development.
But the time the child is ready to enter the workforce, or go to college, they will be far behind the emotional and mental development of their peers. They will not have been created equal.
6
You begin by stating that "all men are created equal," and then go on charging against mothers for not taking care of their pregnancies, for being drug addicts, and so on. Where are the fathers in your understanding of the problems about concussions generated by sports? Or is your conception of these victims as products of single parent homes? Concussions are also suffered by rich kids! What can you say about the image fathers convey on sports? Daddy wants a boy to play baseball with, to take him along to the games, to compete with in games. Isn't that part of the formative experience of children? Blaming women for their children's concussions is quite an unfair proposal. Fathers are just as (ir)responsible when they pressure their children to play harsh sports without measuring the possible consequences.
You are right though in your final statement: "They will not have been created equal," but the reason behind is about economic opportunities, not about their mothers!
You are right though in your final statement: "They will not have been created equal," but the reason behind is about economic opportunities, not about their mothers!
29
Data and citations, please, to back up your assertion that so many low income women do drugs, smoke, and drink during pregnancy. My guess is that it isn't many, and that there are also similar numbers among middle and upper class women. The picture you paint is the myth about low income women started in the Reagan years as backlash against the women's movement and the civil rights movement.
I just received an email from an organization that monitors environmental problems. It was asking me to sign a petition about carcinogenic chemicals (the same ones you find in RoundUp) found in tampons. Exposure to our chemically-laden world is unavoidable at this point. Everybody, from infancy up, has chemicals detectable in their bodies from environmental exposure.
It is true that kids from lower income homes have a harder time going forward, but I've known plenty of people who grew up middle income and wealthy who were emotionally and mentally damaged by their parents. Both parents. Especially, the ones with money had problems.
Get your data straight before you assume things about lower income people and mothers.
I just received an email from an organization that monitors environmental problems. It was asking me to sign a petition about carcinogenic chemicals (the same ones you find in RoundUp) found in tampons. Exposure to our chemically-laden world is unavoidable at this point. Everybody, from infancy up, has chemicals detectable in their bodies from environmental exposure.
It is true that kids from lower income homes have a harder time going forward, but I've known plenty of people who grew up middle income and wealthy who were emotionally and mentally damaged by their parents. Both parents. Especially, the ones with money had problems.
Get your data straight before you assume things about lower income people and mothers.
13
Simple, direct, enforceable protocols that require immediate examination and treatment, are fundamental adjustments to the sports culture that can prevent long term effects from both subtle and obvious sports episodes and injuries. Concussions, cardiac arrest, heat stroke receive attention but there are innumerable other. more subtle ways that athletes are injured but those injuries ignored.
I played contact and non-contact sports throughout my school days in the 1950s and 1960s, when injuries were treated when the player became immobilized. Sprains and strains to necks, legs, groins, and other limbs. for the most part, went untreated. In the 1960s, when I played varsity basketball. football, and tennis, I experienced a minor neck sprain that years later one orthopedic physician described as "severe decrepitude" in the tissue in the neck. The long term effects of that subtle but painful injury 50 years ago now limits range of motion in both my arms and my ability to turn my neck, which in turn limits my lap swimming, an activity that I have engaged in and enjoyed more than any other activity since childhood .
Despite this, I would play contact and non contact sports today because I had fun. But specific medical protocols to quickly diagnose and treat the athlete are required so players, parents, and friends are secure knowing that, while you can't eliminate the risk of injury, you will get treatment at the first sign of both subtle and not so subtle injuries.
I played contact and non-contact sports throughout my school days in the 1950s and 1960s, when injuries were treated when the player became immobilized. Sprains and strains to necks, legs, groins, and other limbs. for the most part, went untreated. In the 1960s, when I played varsity basketball. football, and tennis, I experienced a minor neck sprain that years later one orthopedic physician described as "severe decrepitude" in the tissue in the neck. The long term effects of that subtle but painful injury 50 years ago now limits range of motion in both my arms and my ability to turn my neck, which in turn limits my lap swimming, an activity that I have engaged in and enjoyed more than any other activity since childhood .
Despite this, I would play contact and non contact sports today because I had fun. But specific medical protocols to quickly diagnose and treat the athlete are required so players, parents, and friends are secure knowing that, while you can't eliminate the risk of injury, you will get treatment at the first sign of both subtle and not so subtle injuries.
3
I played tackle football from the age of 8-18. The last 2 years I had headaches and depressions that lasted until I was 24. I was trained to go face first into tackles and often in blocking. I never spoke to anyone about the depression or headaches, because I thought that it was just me. I used drugs and alcohol to deal with it. I now know what was happening and have been basically clear of it since that time. I loved the sport, but I would not have done it if I had I known the consequences.
69
Mark, thanks for a moving, & almost haunting, story. Glad things worked out for you.
Your last sentence got me thinking about how many current NFL players would give the sport up right now if they TRULY understood and/or appreciated the long-term risks associated with their profession? I mean walk-away-from-the-money give it up. On the spot. I'm betting very few, if any. Amazing in a sad kind of way.
Your last sentence got me thinking about how many current NFL players would give the sport up right now if they TRULY understood and/or appreciated the long-term risks associated with their profession? I mean walk-away-from-the-money give it up. On the spot. I'm betting very few, if any. Amazing in a sad kind of way.
1
Concussions must be taken seriously, but the movement against football is about much more than the players well being. Football is one of the last bastions of an American male society that values qualities that so called progressives seek to eliminate - physical brutality and toughness to name two. For more than 100yrs, the vast majority of American males played football w/out developing long term medical issues, yet today we're fed the narrative that football is tantamount to smoking. Why stop w/ football - let's eliminate all sports, wrap ourselves in bubble wrap, and die of obesity.....
5
It is likely that for more than 100 years, young men did indeed suffer follow-on consequences from concussions, but just didn't talk about it, or understand what the source of their later problems was.
Physical fitness need not be violent, and "males," frankly, don't need to be "tough" -- not in that way anyway. Besides, why play football these days, when you can be much more of a "bro" by playing lacrosse!?!
Physical fitness need not be violent, and "males," frankly, don't need to be "tough" -- not in that way anyway. Besides, why play football these days, when you can be much more of a "bro" by playing lacrosse!?!
38
As a retired family physician I have followed this debate closely. The problem with concussion is that it can change a player's life completely. It's not like a chronic knee injury with lifelong pain. Instead concussion can rob a player of his mental capacity, his mental balance, and his emotional and social life. concussion can cause serious mental illness and loss of impulse control. Our living brains are soft, sort of like pudding. At impact the brain sloshes around inside the skull and breaks itself. Brain injuries are irreparable and can make it impossible for a player to have normal relationships, hold a job, focus attention on anything whatsoever, or even feel reasonably good.
Fortunately the NFL has done a pretty good job of changing the professional game: I have watched it and see a real change.
The problem is that football and other sports for children, adolescents and even college players do not have the same resources and sophistication about concussions. A parent should never allow his/her kid to engage in activities with a high risk of permanent brain damage.
Fortunately the NFL has done a pretty good job of changing the professional game: I have watched it and see a real change.
The problem is that football and other sports for children, adolescents and even college players do not have the same resources and sophistication about concussions. A parent should never allow his/her kid to engage in activities with a high risk of permanent brain damage.
93
What's a "so called progressive?" And why do only those people seek to eliminate physical brutality and toughness as "values?" I have a feeling there are people of all political persuasions that have concern about valuing brutality. Having volunteered at a woman's shelter, I can tell you that male brutality exists in every economic, cultural, political, ethnic aspect of our society. Having seen what I saw there, it's hard to "value" brutality and toughness. Most women prefer men who know the value of gentleness and restraint. Men who like to pound and beat are usually insecure inside, and in need of psychological help.
11
so what's left for kids? even fishing is criticized now for being mean to the fish.
No fishing
No skateboarding
No football
No hockey
No soccer
No skiing
No wrestling
No cheerleading
No drugs right?
Mountain biking? Nope
What's left? Xbox. TV. iPads. Phones.
yeeha
No fishing
No skateboarding
No football
No hockey
No soccer
No skiing
No wrestling
No cheerleading
No drugs right?
Mountain biking? Nope
What's left? Xbox. TV. iPads. Phones.
yeeha
4
Brain damage is simply too destructive of a person's life for a parent to knowingly allow his/her kid to engage in activities with a high risk of brain injury.
There will always be accidents: a kid can fall out of a tree!!
But many parents and coaches push kids beyond reasonable risk.
A sensible approach to sports is not the same as not allowing any participation in physical activity.
There will always be accidents: a kid can fall out of a tree!!
But many parents and coaches push kids beyond reasonable risk.
A sensible approach to sports is not the same as not allowing any participation in physical activity.
23
You apparently missed the point of this piece. While there is some element of risk in most sports, some are far more apt to lead to serious concussions than others.
I ski and you know what has changed on the slopes? Helmets. Nearly everyone is wearing them. In youth soccer, there is a move to rule out heading for the youngest players and it may become the rule for older players as well. Still playing but with greatly reduced risk of brain injury. I coached wrestling and the headgear is way behind what is needed BUT certain moves are not allowed. Cheer practice is being moved to mats like gymnastics.
This is not about sissifying kids. It's about preventing avoidable life long damaging brain trauma. I am quite pleased by grandson is a fine swimmer and only plays flag football.
I ski and you know what has changed on the slopes? Helmets. Nearly everyone is wearing them. In youth soccer, there is a move to rule out heading for the youngest players and it may become the rule for older players as well. Still playing but with greatly reduced risk of brain injury. I coached wrestling and the headgear is way behind what is needed BUT certain moves are not allowed. Cheer practice is being moved to mats like gymnastics.
This is not about sissifying kids. It's about preventing avoidable life long damaging brain trauma. I am quite pleased by grandson is a fine swimmer and only plays flag football.
2
Baseball. Basketball. Bicycling. Tennis. Golf. That's five possibilities not involving very much needless risk of brain injury (at least if you remember to wear the helmet while you're riding the bike down the road).
1
Well done column Frank. What price glory?
20
Frank,
Thank you for your focus on "brain protection".
You mention Will Smith playing Bennet Omalu.
Next time, could you mention Bennet Omalu by name.
He's done such a good job bringing our attention to concussions (cause, effect & prevention), and has been "raked over the coals" by naysayers.
The NFL has tried to ruin his reputation (trying to protect their product), whereas I think we owe him a huge debt of appreciation.
Thanks.
Thank you for your focus on "brain protection".
You mention Will Smith playing Bennet Omalu.
Next time, could you mention Bennet Omalu by name.
He's done such a good job bringing our attention to concussions (cause, effect & prevention), and has been "raked over the coals" by naysayers.
The NFL has tried to ruin his reputation (trying to protect their product), whereas I think we owe him a huge debt of appreciation.
Thanks.
62
Play is dangerous. Not playing is dangerous in a different way. Overprotective parents do all kinds of damage to their kids' psyche. If you're going to take measures to prevent your kids from swimming into other swimmers, be assured that you are overprotective.
4
michjas - Phoenix
Yes, this is a multi-faceted issue.
"Some" parents, "unwittingly" (to use James Clapper's term), are part of the problem & could be part of the solution.
Living through one's children is a hazard to both parents & children/adolescents.
Most of us are familiar with the term "stage mother", as well as viewing fathers screaming at coaches & referees (in "Little League", "Pop Warner", tennis, etc.)
It exists among both mothers & fathers and is usually subliminal.
In my world, it was "horse show mothers".
Yes, this is a multi-faceted issue.
"Some" parents, "unwittingly" (to use James Clapper's term), are part of the problem & could be part of the solution.
Living through one's children is a hazard to both parents & children/adolescents.
Most of us are familiar with the term "stage mother", as well as viewing fathers screaming at coaches & referees (in "Little League", "Pop Warner", tennis, etc.)
It exists among both mothers & fathers and is usually subliminal.
In my world, it was "horse show mothers".
While young men thrive on the thrill and glory associated with football, the survival of the sport depends on the support of the spectators, including the parents. Above the high school level, especially, the fans provide the money that makes both the college and pro games profitable.
Although no one in the stands or watching on TV welcome injuries, they do glory in the routine collisions between big men endowed with lightning reflexes and blazing speed. Reform efforts that truly protected the health of the players would sap the contest of the gladiatorial features that sedentary customers love to experience vicariously. Distance, moreover, insulates the viewer from realizing the truly violent nature of the contact between opposing athletes on virtually every play.
Until the fans develop a feeling for the vulnerability and humanity of these athletes, they are not likely to agonize over injuries, except in the sense that the team suffers from the loss of talented players. The players and their bosses in the front office earn too much money to demand changes. The power rests with the people in the stands.
Although no one in the stands or watching on TV welcome injuries, they do glory in the routine collisions between big men endowed with lightning reflexes and blazing speed. Reform efforts that truly protected the health of the players would sap the contest of the gladiatorial features that sedentary customers love to experience vicariously. Distance, moreover, insulates the viewer from realizing the truly violent nature of the contact between opposing athletes on virtually every play.
Until the fans develop a feeling for the vulnerability and humanity of these athletes, they are not likely to agonize over injuries, except in the sense that the team suffers from the loss of talented players. The players and their bosses in the front office earn too much money to demand changes. The power rests with the people in the stands.
33
There are those of us who don't enjoy the violence of football. Generally, you won't find us watching in the stands or at home. Football's a culture unto itself. Those of us who don't watch football, wonder about the health and well-being of the players and the outrageous salaries of the coaches. Compare the salary of many tenured faculty at your local state university to that of the coaches. Yet it is the faculty who bring us advances in medicine and engineering, among other things. This situation points to exactly what Frank Bruni is getting at: the worship of violent sports as a problem endangering our children.
12
Another "issue" which, for the most part, is subliminal.
Have you ever heard a spectator say, "We" won rather than "They" won ?
Have you ever heard a spectator say, "We" won rather than "They" won ?
1
Great comment!
Worried about a child's brain? Then think about chemical contamination. Lead poisoning. Mercury. Endocrine disrupting chemicals like flame retardants, bisphenol A and phthalates. These exposures are far more widespread than football-induced brain concussions. And they have life-long debilitating impacts that undermine the potential and productivity of all affected individuals. The brain concussions are real. But they are just the beginning of the story. And of our opportunities to help children's brains develop to their maximum potential.
36
To be evaluated also, it seems to me, is the collision of the brain against the skull, which is unprotected by helmets.
2
thank you for my 2 precious grandchildren who participate in tennis, swimming and violin practice. thank you for having all our children's back.
5
Football can and should continue to make changes aimed at decreasing risk, but the call to eliminate football is another over reaction by so called progressives. There are literally millions of men who played football and never suffered long term physical or mental issues. We cannot eliminate physical injury or risk from every activity and continue to be human. The list of activities that are statistically more damaging to ones health than football is a long one. "Progressives" are obsessed w/ the illusion that society can guarantee outcomes and that only progressives know which outcomes to guarantee. Eliminating football will lead to eliminating all contact sports. Society will end up idolizing video gamers and America will wrap their kids in Bubble wrap and more People wll die of obesity. So it is written, so it is said......
2
Problem is that our economic system requires greater and greater mental health and higher and higher brain function for any kind of good life. And we are refusing to continue to allow individuals to benefit from a concept of "shared risk". We won't help those who are damaged but you are also against preventing our kids from becoming damaged.
I asked a social worker from a mental hospital how many of her patients had had head injuries. She said most of them had a history of head injury.
The economic and social costs of head injury are huge for the individual, the family and our nation. Just cutting traumatic brain injury incidence in half could save a lot of anguish and a lot of taxpayer dollars.
I asked a social worker from a mental hospital how many of her patients had had head injuries. She said most of them had a history of head injury.
The economic and social costs of head injury are huge for the individual, the family and our nation. Just cutting traumatic brain injury incidence in half could save a lot of anguish and a lot of taxpayer dollars.
5
add social damage the distortion of values caused by the mythologizing of sports. As access to information to every citizen is diminished due to continued erosion of government support for public libraries in direct contradiction to usage and positive perception of public libraries, it is somehow OK for a single pro sports team to have a larger budget than an entire state's worth of public libraries. In NJ, the Rutger's football coach receives more money than the State Library receives to ensure access to information for residents in the entire state. Priority distortion? As the big six (now five) publishers were myopically cutting public libraries out of e-book distribution either not selling at all or creating impossible to afford scenarios for e-books see ( http://www.ala.org/transforminglibraries/sites/ala.org.transforminglibra... ) that are loaned on the same model as a physical book, congress was more concerned with whether Clemens should have an asterisk next to his name...while corporations influence on information grows unchecked. Priorities? Priorities? Priorities?
41
My son had at least two concussions as a teenager: one, in gym class, in a collision with another student during basketball, and the second, while skateboarding at a skate park (with a helmet on). Both concussions were mild. If a child is active, accidents do happen. It doesn't have to be in a football or soccer game.
14
You haven't told us how your son is doing in life. I hope he is healthy, active, with a good education, good job and good interactions with others. I hope he is mentally alert, stable, and happy.
Unfortunately many people with history of concussions have brain damage that precludes any sort of productive or happy life.
Yes, some concussions are mild. But some are not.
Unfortunately many people with history of concussions have brain damage that precludes any sort of productive or happy life.
Yes, some concussions are mild. But some are not.
9
Great column.
Intentionally inflicted head injuries are a major part of gang life.
Norteno v. Sureno, Crip v. Blood. The classic image of a youth being knocked down then surrounded by opposing gang members only to be kicked in the head repeatedly is a classic image because it is accurate. Unfortunately what
gets up off the ground is not the same as young man who was knocked down.
What follows is often a young man who is impulsive, impulsively violent and unable to problem solve with anything other than aggression.
Why care? After all the point in the column is about protecting middle class children and the quality of their lives? The moral high ground is that all lives matter. The more practical side is that the cost of our criminal justice system
seems to have been met over the past forty years by very major funding reductions in College level education. Let's ask the tax payer, "Do you want to lock up one kid or educate a bunch of others?" The question is not a false choice. Accessabulity to college, particularly for disadvantaged communities is no where near what it was in the 70's.
While there is no simple formula to resolve the issues of poverty and crime an intact brain ought to be a birthright. It is much easier on every level to hold a youth accountable for his conduct when we know he is not brain damaged.
Intentionally inflicted head injuries are a major part of gang life.
Norteno v. Sureno, Crip v. Blood. The classic image of a youth being knocked down then surrounded by opposing gang members only to be kicked in the head repeatedly is a classic image because it is accurate. Unfortunately what
gets up off the ground is not the same as young man who was knocked down.
What follows is often a young man who is impulsive, impulsively violent and unable to problem solve with anything other than aggression.
Why care? After all the point in the column is about protecting middle class children and the quality of their lives? The moral high ground is that all lives matter. The more practical side is that the cost of our criminal justice system
seems to have been met over the past forty years by very major funding reductions in College level education. Let's ask the tax payer, "Do you want to lock up one kid or educate a bunch of others?" The question is not a false choice. Accessabulity to college, particularly for disadvantaged communities is no where near what it was in the 70's.
While there is no simple formula to resolve the issues of poverty and crime an intact brain ought to be a birthright. It is much easier on every level to hold a youth accountable for his conduct when we know he is not brain damaged.
58
A friend of mine looked at the EEG of a lot of prisoners on death row and she found that a majority had temporal lobe abnormalities due to head trauma.
58
A spoilsport is Bruni to us
All these sports are so hazardous,
No fun to see
Without feeling guilty
Throwing our kids under the bus.
All these sports are so hazardous,
No fun to see
Without feeling guilty
Throwing our kids under the bus.
22
I’m struck by an observation of Robert Heinlein’s, the SF writer, years ago. It seems like an abrupt mental shift unrelated to the subject at hand, but it’s not. He observed that human evolution ceased with the invention of spectacles, because they allowed weaker members of the species to survive to reproduce where without them poor eyesight likely would have caused an early death in a far more demanding world. He wasn’t the first to make the observation or the last, merely the most memorable to me.
Now we ponder increasing pressure to do away with violent sports, particularly for the young, for the perfectly rational argument that it’s hard to prevent long-lasting and sometimes fatal injuries. Let’s face it, the argument that athletic trainers must be added to youth sports leagues and better trained professionals to school programs in a time of decreased overall funding of EVERYTHING … is an argument to do away with contact sports as too expensive because we can’t afford to make them “safe”. Some regard them as unacceptably unsafe, some regard their competitive nature as barbaric, but some want contact sports banned for SOME reason.
What do we lose by banning them? Just as with a natural suspicion of the hypersensitivity we see on campuses today, do people think that life is by nature UNcompetitive? NOT inherently violent? That children don’t need to be TAUGHT to compete when something of value is the prize?
Where do we stop beyond eyeglasses at weakening the species?
Now we ponder increasing pressure to do away with violent sports, particularly for the young, for the perfectly rational argument that it’s hard to prevent long-lasting and sometimes fatal injuries. Let’s face it, the argument that athletic trainers must be added to youth sports leagues and better trained professionals to school programs in a time of decreased overall funding of EVERYTHING … is an argument to do away with contact sports as too expensive because we can’t afford to make them “safe”. Some regard them as unacceptably unsafe, some regard their competitive nature as barbaric, but some want contact sports banned for SOME reason.
What do we lose by banning them? Just as with a natural suspicion of the hypersensitivity we see on campuses today, do people think that life is by nature UNcompetitive? NOT inherently violent? That children don’t need to be TAUGHT to compete when something of value is the prize?
Where do we stop beyond eyeglasses at weakening the species?
4
Richard, compared to evolutional time frames, a glacial pace is escape velocity fast. Heinlein, I'm sure you know, was probably neither serious nor speculating with his statement about glasses, which have existed for less than a thousand years. It's a bit soon to lay the end of man's evolutional progress on their development. Let's agree to convene and reassess the matter in a couple of million years.
Meanwhile, allow sports to proceed as they have in the past. Those who insist it is their right to bash their brains around inside the confines of their skull are themselves producing evolutionary changes ala the laws of survival of the fittest regarding the human race.
Which, in your opinion, will be dominant in 2,002,016? Four-eyes or Scrambled-brains?
Meanwhile, allow sports to proceed as they have in the past. Those who insist it is their right to bash their brains around inside the confines of their skull are themselves producing evolutionary changes ala the laws of survival of the fittest regarding the human race.
Which, in your opinion, will be dominant in 2,002,016? Four-eyes or Scrambled-brains?
15
Glen:
It's not at all early to posit that by countering the natural means that eliminate the weakest from the gene pool you perpetuate weaknesses that otherwise would have been lost to natural selection. One can argue that the conditions for survival change and that genetic "strength" therefore changes in definition relative to them; but should the natural conditions for survival ever dramatically degenerate, such as might occur as a result of catastrophic climate change, we may be sorry that we DID perpetuate such weaknesses -- and not just glasses, but lack of resistance to disease that antibiotics now control, medications that artificially control cholesterol in the blood and elevated blood pressure, and on and on.
It's quite possible that given the extent to which we seek (and succeed) at preserving ourselves to breed when in earlier times many would have died, we find that when we DO reconvene in a couple of million years, we find human beings that look pretty much like us and that have many serious weaknesses controlled by medications or altered genetically at birth that if left untouched would result in still-borns or early deaths.
It's not at all early to posit that by countering the natural means that eliminate the weakest from the gene pool you perpetuate weaknesses that otherwise would have been lost to natural selection. One can argue that the conditions for survival change and that genetic "strength" therefore changes in definition relative to them; but should the natural conditions for survival ever dramatically degenerate, such as might occur as a result of catastrophic climate change, we may be sorry that we DID perpetuate such weaknesses -- and not just glasses, but lack of resistance to disease that antibiotics now control, medications that artificially control cholesterol in the blood and elevated blood pressure, and on and on.
It's quite possible that given the extent to which we seek (and succeed) at preserving ourselves to breed when in earlier times many would have died, we find that when we DO reconvene in a couple of million years, we find human beings that look pretty much like us and that have many serious weaknesses controlled by medications or altered genetically at birth that if left untouched would result in still-borns or early deaths.
Richard Luettgen - NJ,
If we subscribe to survival of the fittest theories, then I'd like to see parents modeling safety themselves & protecting their children's heads so they can grow up to be productive members of society.
In my family (children & grandchildren), it's helmets for skiing, snowboarding, equine sports, soccer, & lacrosse.
I do, at 75 use visual help to read trail-maps.
Nobody in my family plays American football, it's just not something we "do".
I, at 75, need visual help to read trail-maps.
If we subscribe to survival of the fittest theories, then I'd like to see parents modeling safety themselves & protecting their children's heads so they can grow up to be productive members of society.
In my family (children & grandchildren), it's helmets for skiing, snowboarding, equine sports, soccer, & lacrosse.
I do, at 75 use visual help to read trail-maps.
Nobody in my family plays American football, it's just not something we "do".
I, at 75, need visual help to read trail-maps.
6
I've watched and loved the sport of football for 50 years (go Jets).
Lebron James will not let his sons play football.
At the turn of the last century, in a time before helmets, padding, and the forward pass, college football was banned for a short time.
The players today are bigger and faster and, although I barely passed high school physics, I know enough about the relationship between the speed and weight of an object to state unequivocally that the sport of football should cease to exist.
Lebron James will not let his sons play football.
At the turn of the last century, in a time before helmets, padding, and the forward pass, college football was banned for a short time.
The players today are bigger and faster and, although I barely passed high school physics, I know enough about the relationship between the speed and weight of an object to state unequivocally that the sport of football should cease to exist.
90
Ah, Kevin, as usual an excessive solution. Has the teaching of ferocity, either by direct participation in games such as American football, or vicariously by enjoyment of the spectacle, so unimportant that we can afford to discontinue it? What's next? High school wrestling? Track and field, where a kid can overheat or badly pull a muscle? Baseball, where you can get beaned by a ball traveling at over 80 mph?
If we should ever need to face another foe toe-to-toe, such as ISIS, from what inner reserves will come the ferocity to kill before being killed that a few weeks of Basic can't instill? The grit to complete a mission despite all the defensive ends coming at us at high speed?
My high school was all-state (WA) and, over 40 years ago, the first-string line was composed of monsters. I'm not a small guy but I just wasn't competitive for that high school. My solution was that I played baseball and ran a little. But I'll tell ya', if I'd been either old enough or young enough to fight in any of our wars as an infantryman, I'd feel a TON more confident if I had a couple of those monsters who played football in my high school in my squad. Those guys were ferocious -- and they didn't come by their ferocity naturally.
If we should ever need to face another foe toe-to-toe, such as ISIS, from what inner reserves will come the ferocity to kill before being killed that a few weeks of Basic can't instill? The grit to complete a mission despite all the defensive ends coming at us at high speed?
My high school was all-state (WA) and, over 40 years ago, the first-string line was composed of monsters. I'm not a small guy but I just wasn't competitive for that high school. My solution was that I played baseball and ran a little. But I'll tell ya', if I'd been either old enough or young enough to fight in any of our wars as an infantryman, I'd feel a TON more confident if I had a couple of those monsters who played football in my high school in my squad. Those guys were ferocious -- and they didn't come by their ferocity naturally.
2
Hope LeBron doesn't let his sons drive either. Driving's a really dangerous HS age activity with a much higher death/injury rate than sports.
2
Hi Rick: I know football will never be banned simply because of the 'Benjamins'!
One does not to play organized sports to excel on the battlefield.
Please refer to the Red Army v Wermacht, June 1941-May 1945.
One does not to play organized sports to excel on the battlefield.
Please refer to the Red Army v Wermacht, June 1941-May 1945.
1