It’s Friday night. Lights flicker on simultaneously, illuminating the field. The scoreboard turns on and the timer begins the countdown to kickoff. Players and cheerleaders warm up on the field for the game of the season, as families and fans begin filling up the stands. High school football holds many peoples’ fondest memories, and teaches those involved important life lessons and values, but at what cost? Just during the 2005-2006 season, high school football players received more than half a million injuries nationally (“How Dangerous”).
One seemingly unexpected danger of high school football is something that falls completely on the decisions made by coaches and players. If a player comes off of the field injured, often times they don’t want to let their team and coaches down by having
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Teenagers all across America go to war on the football field on Friday nights, putting the health of their minds at risk. Many of the players’ brains are not fully finished developing due to the fact that they are only high school students. This creates a major safety issue regarding brain damage. Studies show that the brains of teenagers have less developed brain tissue than adults, thus making it more easily damaged. (Hard Knocks). New information regarding brain development suggests that most people don’t reach full maturity of the brain until around the age of 25. (Brain Maturity Extends). In some cases, players have been diagnosed with C.T.E which is a “head trauma-induced disease linked to depression” according to the article “Hard Knocks” (Schwarz). C.T.E can be connected to impulse control problems, depression, memory loss, and dementia.
Many people argue that while football can be dangerous, it is worth it to stay in good shape, and learn life lessons. However, there are other, more safe ways to stay in shape, and certainly more safe ways to positively impact your life by learning