SaganIsGOAT
Junior Member
Yeah my children will never play football.
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Deaths in High School Football
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Do you have kids?
My primary goals as a parent, aside from nurturing my son's curiosity and hopefully instilling in him a healthy love for science, skepticism and overall love of life, is to keep him SAFE.
YMMV I guess, but no stupid high school sport is worth his life.
DrGonzo615
Banned
I grew up riding dirt bikes....that has plenty of risks and I have my fair share of broken bones as a result but I wouldnt trade those experiences for anything in the world.
I feel bad for people that live in a bubble.
ThankYouDaletech
Banned
I hope my kids play a safe sport like baseb....skateboa......hock....crossfi.....
I hope my kids join band.
I hope my kids join band.
dave is ok
aztek is ok
I agree with the gist of your argument that if you play sports you cannot avoid injury/risk but football, hockey and rugby are far more violent than the rest of the contact sports. Even if you had a great game in football your body will be hurting for days.
Agreed. Some of these are deaths are clearly outliers. Injuries/deaths in high school baseball can be minimized by eliminating aluminum bats.
Dirtbiking doesn't necessitate crashing into people with full-body force.
If you're good at biking, a crash would be a legitimate accident. Football deaths and brain injuries are a byproduct of actually successfully playing football.
Freedom = $1.05
Banned
well, in the example of other sports there also isn't a higher than usually risk of brain disease
so even if the sport isn't directly killing young people on the field, there's still a risk of it eventually affecting their quality of life further down the line.
there's more to the sports spectrum than "play football" and "nothing"
Ray Wonder
Founder of the Wounded Tagless Children
Yup, let's force them to be inactive instead. Much safer.
dave is ok
aztek is ok
As as I said in my earlier post "More then the possibility of death, the real reason no parent should let their kid play football is the risk of TBI"
This article is bad because it's not like high school football players dying is a common occurrence.
But high school football players suffering completely invisible injuries that could manifest later in life in a number of ways is a common occurrence.
DoktorEvil
Banned
There are numerous other sports & hobbies that are statistically safer than HS Football that a student can pursue. Why is it either football or nothing?
Freedom = $1.05
Banned
fair enough, i didnt see the mention of TBI in your original post till just now.
Sadly you'll never convince the majority of people of the seriousness of this. You'll either hear something like 'relax, it's just a game' (which it is, so adults should be able to find another game to enjoy) or 'it's tradition, stop fucking with it', as if something should just be assumed to be the right thing to do just because it's tradition.
That sentence doesn't mean what he thinks it means. Unless he wants more players to keep on playing until they're dead. I get what he's saying though, but it's a bit grammatically fluffy.
That sentence doesn't mean what he thinks it means. Unless he wants more players to keep on playing until they're dead. I get what he's saying though, but it's a bit grammatically fluffy.
It's either football or drama club in high school, there's no in-between.
And we all know what happens in drama club!!!
LOL, there is a rather large gradience between football or inactivity.
Jawbreaker
Member
False dilemma. There are plenty of much safer activities that keep kids active.
Ray Wonder
Founder of the Wounded Tagless Children
If the kid wants to play Football or nothing, let him play Football.
If the kid wants to play Football or Tennis, but wants to play Football more, let the kid play Football.
That's my outlook on it. These small statistics don't even register on my worry meter. Kids die from getting hurt all the time from doing random things that aren't Football. Forcing them to play something that isn't Football because you're worried sounds way too paranoid to me.
You have no concept of how high school football works. Just cuz a few schools in California, Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania have an UnderArmour contract and have a game televised on ESPN once a year doesn't mean high school football is profitable. It's just not, with kids often having to pay money to play, use old pads and jerseys, have outdated practice facilities, and coaches almost entirely volunteers or at best getting paid a couple hundred bucks a season for way more hours than people think.
These threads are just absolute dog whistles for people who don't know what they're talking about.
I'll admit there are problems with the game, and maybe it's unsafe. But pretending these schools have money to throw around is asinine.
When I was in high school, the last thing on a students mind was dying from a football injury :/.I'm like this, if my son wants to play sports then so be it (it would be nice if he got involved in music though *cross fingers*). It's better for kids to get involved in extra curricular activities than getting involved in nonsense.
Just saying...
Just saying...
Dictator93
Member
What about 3.5 years of "glory" or so that he will constantly reference and wear a jacket from?
And be THAT guy.
It's called risk management. Why would I want my child - who is still physiologically and psychologically developing - be physically battered nonstop?
Ray Wonder
Founder of the Wounded Tagless Children
Always? Every kid wants to play any sport they can? Especially in high school? You four sound so sure of yourselves, until you try and force a high school teenager not to play Football but still play a different sport because "my parents said football is too dangerous".
Raise your kid however you want to. I'm calling it paranoid.
When you were in school these statistics weren't available...
And it's rare that students would actually weigh these stats regardless of availability, so is this supposed to really be an argument for football? That kids who don't know better don't care so adults who should know better shouldn't either?
Freedom = $1.05
Banned
it's kinda easy when it's your kids. I mean, if you can't tell your kids not to do something then what kind of parent are you?
ThankYouDaletech
Banned
Manchildren and literal children can't think like a teenager. It's awesome.
30yearsofhurt
Member
There was a great doco called League of Denial.
It's about brain trauma in American Football.
The news isn't good for anyone under the age of 19 playing.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/league-of-denial/
It's about brain trauma in American Football.
The news isn't good for anyone under the age of 19 playing.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/league-of-denial/
There is no paranoia about trying to avoid excessive and unnecessary physical force being done to a developing body. It's not like the physical contact is imaginary.
Some parents are aware of the consequences, but wouldn't hold their child back from at least doing something that could benefit them in the long run. Why should the parents stop their kids from going for a sport of their choice? I'm all for watching out for my child's well being but damn...I don't want to lock him up in a cage from life.
yeah, let your offspring destroy himself. it's a tough world out there and he'd better learn sooner than later *spits*
Freedom = $1.05
Banned
as a parent, you should be trying to protect your child. given that studies are starting to show the impact that TBI is having on players and how widespread it might be, it's kinda of a crappy thing to let your child run the risk of a life of brain disease because you couldn't steer them to a less brutal sport.
Ray Wonder
Founder of the Wounded Tagless Children
You didn't get the point. You said there's more to the sports spectrum than "Football - inactivity". IF they want to play football or nothing, what do you do?
"No you can't play Football, but I'm going to force you to do this other thing!"
It doesn't work like that.
Explaining the science behind the mounting evidence that football is a sport for dummies and future vegetables isn't "locking them up in a cage", it's empowering them.
A kid's excuse to not play HS football with their friends shouldn't be "my parents said its dangerous" because parents say all kinds of stupid shit. Their excuse should be the medical proof that it's a shit sport.
Why would you force your kid to do anything? You can easily encourage them to find another sport or activity on their own.
"Hey, I'd prefer if you didn't play that because I care about your mental health and there's a significant risk of brain damage and a small chance of outright death. What's your second choice?"
"But father, all I've been groomed to care about since you put me in football-jersey onesies to upload to your friends on Facebook and while I watched you scream at the television from my playpen is football! Whatever will I do with my life now?"
DoktorEvil
Banned
If it's your kids, you might feel differently. With football comes long term body issues like memory loss, concussions, and brain damage. I can't blame a parent for feeling he or she wants to protect their son from that when the chances of even going pro are slim.
Additionally, if the goal is to get to college on the cheap, there are better and safer sports to do that with.
Freedom = $1.05
Banned
hey, if my child cant tell the difference between a possibly fucked brain from playing football and that other sports won't cause the same lifelong brain trauma then i, as a parent, have done a terrible job informing my child on the dangers of the sport.
Look....as a parent I know my child's well being and understand where you are coming from, but I'm not going to be a roadblock to stop my child from doing sports. Trust me, I understand statistics and even hope my son does other activities when he gets older, but I'm not going to be a roadblock in his life. There's a difference between breaking curlew, hanging out in the wrong crowds, making sure they hold your hand while crossing the street , and joining a high school/middle school football team that could benefit them in the long run.
I said my piece on the subject. Some people in here have a certain belief in protecting their children, while others have a different belief. All that matters is judgement on all ends of parenthood.
Ray Wonder
Founder of the Wounded Tagless Children
No more Football, Hockey, Boxing, Rugby, and whatever else is dangerous.
No more of those proffesional leagues in 10 years time.
That sounds awful.
No more of those proffesional leagues in 10 years time.
That sounds awful.
High school football is still slow enough with a large emphasis on the fundamentals and safety that the danger is nowhere near what you see on TV or in the media. You shouldn't be allowed to play if you're lowering your head and putting yourself or others at risk. This is done, seen, and celebrated in the NFL constantly, and to some degree the collegiate level. It's a different style of football where freak athletes, who never had to rely on the fundamentals and playing safely to succeed, have taken to launching their bodies at each other like missiles.
There are still obvious dancers associated with any level of football, and not all HS coaches will have that safety emphasis, which is why awareness and education remains important.
There are still obvious dancers associated with any level of football, and not all HS coaches will have that safety emphasis, which is why awareness and education remains important.
You must have had a different upbringing because mine was never a binary choice between doing a sport or becoming a menace to society.
I had a friend paralysed playing rugby and he later died. I still love and support the game. And if I had a kid I'd let him play it. I mean, kids in Ireland used to die playing hurling every so often by taking a hurley to the temple. No one ever suggested it be banned, but helmets were eventually introduced.
Contact sports are dangerous. Team contact sports lead inexorably to the commodifaction of human health. That doesn't mean they're not worthwhile. I think they are, and that the risks are worth it. We should always be looking to improve safety, though, so long as it doesn't infringe on the soul of the sport.
Contact sports are dangerous. Team contact sports lead inexorably to the commodifaction of human health. That doesn't mean they're not worthwhile. I think they are, and that the risks are worth it. We should always be looking to improve safety, though, so long as it doesn't infringe on the soul of the sport.
I was going to post this. Excellent documentary.
edit: They also have a concussion watch for the NFL http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/concussion-watch/
DoktorEvil
Banned
No one is suggesting to ban the sport, but you could at least understand why parents are apprehensive to support sports predicated on head to head contact, or fist to head contact.
This is true. NFL players have some of the absolute worst tackling around. I can't tell you how many guys I see every going for a high hit with a shoulder instead of a lower wrap tackle like they should be doing. And half the time they miss or are off-center and the WR/RB bounces off and runs for another 20 yards.
creationtheory
Member
I feel like in Texas at least one kid dies per year of heat exhaustion when football practice starts in the summer.
highrider
Banned
I agree that the risks are there and they are significant. I won't allow my son to play, steered him towards basketball at a young age.
But I wanted to raise a few points as well.
Kids aren't any bigger today. I'm 48 and we had plenty of 250 plus players in my day, the biggest kids are actively recruited.
Football is incredibly fun to play. I'm sure you have pushy parents and crazed programs, but most kids play because they want the gladiator experience. I know I did when I was 16. I wanted to test what I could take and achieve physically.
People do risky stuff. I'm fearful of every kid getting hurt or killed. But you are talking about young males. It's not the definition of being a young male, but it's a part of it, a big one to some.
But I wanted to raise a few points as well.
Kids aren't any bigger today. I'm 48 and we had plenty of 250 plus players in my day, the biggest kids are actively recruited.
Football is incredibly fun to play. I'm sure you have pushy parents and crazed programs, but most kids play because they want the gladiator experience. I know I did when I was 16. I wanted to test what I could take and achieve physically.
People do risky stuff. I'm fearful of every kid getting hurt or killed. But you are talking about young males. It's not the definition of being a young male, but it's a part of it, a big one to some.
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