It was recess time at Lake Harbor Middle School, and a group of boys were playing basketball. Two of the boys went for the same ball, and they ended up colliding, falling to the ground. On his way down, one of the boys hit his head on the concrete. This caused him to ask a continuous loop of questions for two hours after the initial impact. Now, almost two years later, the boy still does not remember the day he got his first concussion. Stories like this are not uncommon, especially in the physically demanding sports culture we live in today. Concussions should be taken seriously due to the negative effects they can have on the brain. The definition of a concussion is an injury to the brain or to the spinal cord due to jarring from a blow, …show more content…
The pressure put on kids to perform from coaches, parents, and peers is a lot, and can lead an athlete to put a sports team over their own health. According to Dr. Aaron Karlin, the Director of the Concussion Management Program at Ochsner, “A concussion won’t appear on a CAT scan or MRI, as it is a functional injury to the brain”(Ochsner). Due to the fact that these injuries do not show up on scans, it is completely up to the injured athlete and anyone surrounding them to report any symptoms after a big hit. Although this may sound simple, some athletes ignore symptoms to stay in the game or to return quicker after already being taken out. In a report from the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council it stated this,” There is still a culture among athletes that resists both the self- reporting of concussions and compliance with appropriate concussion management plans” (Hoffman). This mindset with concussions is easy. Oftentimes, after a few days, the symptoms have subsided and you feel like yourself, ready to jump back into sports and school as if nothing happened. Even if the symptoms haven’t subsided, many kids feel the pressure to act as if they are better just to help their team win the next game. In order for the mindset that sports come first over health to stop, parents, coaches, and athletes all need to be aware of the seriousness of even the most minor