The sport of football has the horrible stereotype that whoever plays it will ultimately get hurt. The reason for that is because when you play football, the goal is to tackle the person with the ball and prevent them from scoring a touchdown. While playing this game, some of the players get hurt because of the physical contact involved in the game. Many injuries such as CTE and broken bones have parents thinking about the consequences of their children playing football. Parents should not be worried about their children playing youth tackle football because of the protective padding and helmets, new safety rules, and the sports technology that is made to keep kids safe. New padding and helmets are key for players in today's tackle football …show more content…
There are several different penalties that are in the game to keep players safe. One of the penalties is called “Targeting.” Targeting is when a player tries to tackle someone by leading with the head and purposely trying to hit them in the head (Deford 12a). The consequence for this penalty is an automatic ejection from the game and a possible suspension. Another penalty that is not as serious is called “Head-to-Head Contact.” Where two players hit each other in the head, but the contact was unintentional (Deford 12a). That penalty can result in a 15 yard penalty at most, but what usually happens is …show more content…
One piece of equipment is called the neck brace. A neck brace is used mainly on line men or defensive backs mainly because of the sudden contact that involves the players along the line. The neck brace is used only on the back of the neck because when a player gets hit unexpectedly, their head will shoot back and can cause spine and brain damage (Talbot). The neck brace prevents that head motion and can prevent spinal injuries. There is another piece of equipment called arm pads. These are used to keep the arms from bruising or getting cut. They have pads on the outer forearm that protects the arm and can help when blocking. All of this equipment costs extra money and is usually not included with an organized football