Football Is Too Dangerous Research Paper

Football is too Dangerous of a Sport You finally get a day off from work. You decide to go watch your sons’ football game, since he has been begging you to come to one for months. Everything is going great at the game, your son plays amazingly. All of a sudden your son is tackled, and is now lying on the ground screaming in pain. You run to him as he is surrounded by people trying to help. Over 147,000 youth football players suffered from concussions in the 2013-2014 school year. Although, the article “Should kids Play Football?” states that “Young athletes learn discipline, focus, teamwork—skills that will help them be successful later in life.” Football is too dangerous of a sport. Football players are at a high risk for concussions,

The article “Football: Child’s Play, Adult Peril?” states that “’Sports offer huge benefits to kids, as far as work ethic, leadership, and fitness, and we think kids should participate,’ says study lead author Julie Stamm (MED’15), a PhD candidate in anatomy and neurobiology. “But there’s increasing evidence that children respond differently to head trauma than adults. Kids who are hitting their heads over and over during this important time of brain development may have consequences later in life.” It is dangerous for children’s young developing vulnerable brains to experience trauma. It eventually affects the way they think and their memory as adults. The same article states that “scientists examined test scores of 42 former NFL players, with an average age of 52, all of whom had experienced memory and thinking problems for at least six months. Half the players had played tackle football before age 12, and half had not. Significantly, the total number of concussions was similar between the two groups. Researchers found that the players exposed to tackle football before age 12 had greater impairment in mental flexibility, memory, and intelligence—a 20 percent difference in some cases. These findings held up even after statistically removing the effects of the total number of years the participants played football.” It is proven that playing football before the age of twelve impacts the brain, at that age the brain is just developing and is in a fragile state. The tackles and trauma is awful for the brain. Playing football as a child is dangerous as what happens on that field when you are playing at the age of twelve can affect you for the rest of your