Help: links to articles on why football is ok needed
So my wife and I watched "Concussion" tonight. This was kind of a mistake. Now she is ready to pull our son from football.
I fully understand that there is a danger of both concussions and CTE. However, I also know that coaching paradigms have changed, and that there are some studies showing it is not always bad for kids to play HS football.
Of course, I can google this. But you never know what you're going to find on the Internet. If any of you neurologists or doctors or coaches who have followed this can post some links on why it is ok to play tackle football in High School, it would be greatly appreciated.
EDIT: As I read through the comments, I thought a few edits were in order.'
First, to reiterate, I have no problem with my son playing football, if he wants to play (which he does). Now, I want the trainers and the coaches to carefully follow concussion protocol. I pretty much have a "one concussion" rule. (If you have one concussion you're done playing football. Exception: I recognize that in an abundance of caution, a trainer might go CYA and say, "your son might have had a mild concussion," when it is pretty unlikely. In the current climate, trainers can be a bit gun shy. That's when you get a second opinion).
Second, regarding bubblewrap and all, actually, we are fortunate to have pretty active kids. Between roller blading, street hockey, skateboarding, dirt biking, bicycling, and other stuff, we're glad the kids aren't just getting fat playing video games on the couch. His twin sister made the varsity soccer team this year as a freshman: I suppose we should watch her just as carefully for concussions!
The movie "Concussion" really kind of loads the deck. Even though you can get a concussion in soccer or from a bicycle fall or from just tripping over your feet and hitting your head, there is something viscereal about seeing footage of brutal hits. When a mom sees clips of brutal head to head collisions in NFL games, it is pretty sobering. I'm sure the movie cherry picked the most graphic, brutal head to head collisions they could possibly find. This seems more frightening than the image of a kid on a socceer field, skateboard, roller blades, or a bicycle.
Not to scare you too much, but you won't let your kids play football, only safe sports like Soccer??!!
Did you know that there are some studies that show that soccer is worse for kids brains than football?
40% of high school soccer kids get a concussion, just 30% of high school football players.
Soccer causes brain damage.
35% of college soccer players have abnormal EEG patterns.
Some studies conclude that Junior High athletes are MORE likely to get brain damage from soccer than football.
Studies show soccer players have damage to their white matter fiber tracts.
According to a study at Purdue, a women's varsity college soccer team takes as many 100g hits to the head as the male varsity football team in pads and helmets.
Etc...
If you truly wanted to be 100% safe, you couldn't play any sports ever - what kind of a life is that?
If the Wright Brothers wanted to be 100% safe, they would never have built gliders and fliers as they crashed countless times.
Hell our basketball team had 2 concussions this year. I personally feel that how much emphasis coaches place on safety certainly matters. The state's 'preventative measures' make it difficult though since you legitimately are allowed 1 day of full contact before most HS teams have some kind of an inter squad scrimmage.
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and not just any Doctor, but Dr. Julian Bailes, a neurosurgeon, who Dr. Omalu, the star of the movie Concussion, referred to as "my mentor." They are longtime colleagues and worked on CTE research together. Dr. Bailes, (played in the film by Alec Baldwin):
“We don’t know the prevalence of CTE. I have said and I believe that CTE is a risk in a minority of NFL players and hopefully in a group of players who are in a now bygone era, meaning that the reforms in the NFL that began in 2009, as a result of our work and others’ work, has resulted in sweeping changes,” Bailes said. “Those that have been tested were those who the family brought forward after death thinking that they had CTE, thinking they were symptomatic, thinking they were showing signs and symptoms, so it’s a very skewed, very biased sample if you look at it scientifically or epistemologically. We don’t know the real prevalence.”
Dr. Bailes has two sons that play football.
EDIT: links to his credentials
http://www.concussiontreatment.com/julian_bailes.html
Normally, I smirk at the "posbang" stuff. But I'd gladly give you most of my points for this link. Exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for. Scary, but helpful. Thanks much.
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My daughter, who is 6, played soccer this year. They are not allowed to head the ball until they are older. 13 maybe.
Yes. Age 10 and under you can't head it at all. Ages 11 to 13 you can head in practice, but not in games and 14 and up is okay to head. Junior High teams practice heading and do it in games.
Of course it's your absolute right to decide what's safe or not for yourself and your children. But again, your conclusion is wrong. It is far from certain that football is "bad for your brain," nor is it certain that it is any less safe than soccer or other physical activities. You do know that the huge majority of football players, who've played it at the professional level, show no signs of degeneration right? And that the overwhelming, in even greater majorities, of people who played it at the youth and high school level show no signs either right?
If you want to say "football raises your risk of concussion, which elevates the risk of getting CTE at some point" that's closer to what we know today. But you do know that statisically, if the average person has a 1% risk of getting this, and football triples that, it's still only 3% right? Everyone must decide for themselves what risk tolerance they are confortable with, but if you really believe what you said, you might want to consider not letting your son ski, snowboard, skateboard etc either.
Every minute they're playing football is a minute off the highway. So you'll give the keys to the car but not let them play football? As of right now your chances of attributing CTE from blow after constant blow of playing into college and the NFL is about as likely as winning the jackpot. Plus more concussions occur in women's soccer than in football so if you're so worried about the issue of brain damage I'd consider that to be a little hypocritical if you let your daughter play soccer(even though I'm guessing she wouldn't play football in the first place). The players in that movie played during a time where it was okay to spear and closeline receivers with helmets as protective as a band-aid on a gash. I know bc my dad has his old football helmet from the 80's in the basement and I don't understand how he doesn't have Parkinson's at age 51. Plus these guys hit with their head. Lineman couldn't extend their arms during Mike Webster's day so they had to get closer to their opponent and ram their head in. Football is in the safest possible era it has ever been in right now and it's likely to become even more cautious in the near future. Football is such a wonderful sport and the likelihood of your child enduring multiple concussions isn't very high. Not to mention it probably takes years and years of repeated abuse, especially at higher levels of play to attain CTE. No offense but the likelihood of your child playing college or pro ball for that matteris extremely low as well.
Well isn't that a false dichotomy. People could do a million other things outside besides football, including dozens of other sports, or climbing trees, playing capture the flag, simply admiring the beauty of nature. They could also do a million things inside other than electronics, like drawing, painting, reading, playing the saxophone, learning to count cards...all of which would be as useful, or more, in providing "fulfillment" (whatever that means) for a person.
And I really don't have that great an issue with kids playing football, but these portraits of one-of-a-kind experiences solely acheived from football are hogwash.
You keep using that word...
Brain cancer from phones? I think the evidence of that is...not there.
I think the studies are pretty conclusive that repetitive vicious hits to the head are not good for the brain. I would argue that there is a vast difference between the NFL and HS football. But looking for more substantive proof.
So you're looking for an excuse to let your kid's developing brain be repeatedly bashed in?
Football is football, hits are hits. This is an acknowledged fact in 2016.
You'll find the opposite of what you're looking for. High school kids have less developed musculature (around the neck, importantly), and worse equipment. Their brains are still developing. There is evidence that it's even worse for them. I encourage you to research this yourself, with an open mind.
So what more are you looking for if we know bashing your head into a wall isn't good for us? If that's all you are searching for well there's your answer. Bashing your head isn't good for the brain. The other guy is right. Now it just seems like you're looking for an excuse to condone a behavior you ultimately believe is not in favor of your children.
it seems like you'd want to be a little conservative, especially if the studies are like you think, pretty conclusive. It is still a decision of risk-reward. And maybe your 14 year old or whatever is capable of weighing in on the decision himself. Does he know and understand the risks, interpreted in the most conservative of ways? 14 year olds can be pretty mature when it comes to some things. If he understands it and doesn't LOVE football, maybe he wouldn't want to play anyway.
If he does understand the risks, and does LOVE football and really wants to play, will you blame yourself in the unlikely event that permanent, lasting CTE or head trauma is inflicted? Or will you be able to say, "We knew the risks, he really loved playing football, and it is unfortunate, but we don't regret allowing our son to live his life." Sounds like your wife might not be ok with it and in that case...not sure it's a fight you want to win.
If you can't find any links but you still want your son to play, then I would put my foot down and tell your wife that your son will still play, and that's that.
sorry, that is not accurate
Arguably one of THE experts. If you are right, why does the leading doctor in the field let his children play football?
wondering why the negs, because I think you're absolutely correct that the kid should be involved in the decision. But then there it was: "CTE is very likely to occur"?!? Whaaaat?
You're definitely missing something. I think it is still pretty unlikely to get CTE after playing HS football. The risk may increase substantially, but that might mean going from 1% to 4% or similarly small relative risk.
I'm pretty sure you don't mean that... but just checking.
and don't call the hot read, that's it, you are done!
Perhaps a backyard satellite camp is your best bet?
there aren't any articles like the ones you're describing. at least not legitimate ones that aren't funded by the NFL etc. One of my fellow epidemiology grad students tried to do a thesis meta-analyzing the CTE research on football and had to switch to rugby since there's no data out there.
The second problem is the whole issue that it, ya know, might be bad for him. but hey if he's on the OL or DL it's probably fine.
It's not OK. As someone with a PhD in Neuroscience (who freely admits that isn't worth much in this discussion), I'd never let my kids play tackle football.
So Mrs. SRK is kind of lowering the boom? Bummer
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Just curious how many days you think there are in a year...?
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