Summary: Should Kids Play Football?

Football, although fun and exciting, plays an immense role in many long term health issues especially for people who start at a young age. The sport’s injuries include long term health issues such as chronic encephalopathy, ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, and dementia; it also can be a reason for domestic violence, and on some occasions, unnecessary death. There are many factors that can persuade parents to believe that football is a safer sport than it was before, but the long term effects of a simple injury from the sport outweighs it all.
In Ed Riley’s article, High School football’s benefits outweigh risks, Riley talks about the concerns that any parent would have when it comes to their child playing football. As a physician and medical researcher

Isaiah soon later gets a concussion caused by a simple blow to the head. The healing process took months for Isaiah’s brain to heal. According to Riley’s article, the risk of of death from neurodegenerative disease was low and that “data suggests that the normal life of adolescents puts them at risk for brain injury all the time.” (Riley 1). He also states that if his son were to join any other sports such as soccer, rock climbing, skiing or lacrosse have similar risks such as high school football. Although there are sports that have similar risk factors to high school football, according to Shotz’s article, “There are more concussions in football than in any other sport. That’s why kids are deciding not to play.” (Shotz 1). Shotz mentions that even NFL players won’t let their own children play because they feel as if the game is just too risky. If the football stars we watch on television don’t want to have their children play football, why should we find every excuse to allow children to play if we know the precautions of