The Truth about Contact Sports
Zach A. Thompson
Class 711
January 29, 2015
You hear about all the sports
injuries in the news. And yet, you still
play (or let your child play) the sports that cause those injuries, thinking,
‘oh, that’ll never be me.’ But what if
it happens to you? People should stop
thinking about the unlikelihood of getting injured while playing contact
sports. Because the fact is, the chances
of getting a life-changing sports injury are higher than you think. Every 25 seconds, another child is sent to
the emergency room because of a sports injury (Murray, November 8, 2014). Another issue is that parents are telling
their kids that they need to be perfect on the field and this can cause more
injuries and stress. Kids and teens need
to stop playing contact sports like tackle football, and parents need to stop
pressuring kids to play sports and not make mistakes.
Many injuries from playing contact sports, like football, can
be life changing and even life ending.
For example, according to the Huffington Post (Gates, September 17,
2013), a “high school football player died in a hospital Monday as a result of
a hard hit he received during a Friday night game.” Damon Janes was a 16-year-old high school
football player from Brocton, New York, who during a game was in a head-to-head
collision, and died a few days after the game. This incident was catastrophic for Damon’s
family and friends. According to the
article, the entire school was distraught over his death. Whenever someone dies, especially someone
that young, the impact for close relations is devastating. Additionally, sports injuries can be worse for
children than they can be for adults. In
a New York Times article by Jane E. Brody (5/24/2010), she writes, “Young
athletes are more prone to certain injuries, especially stress fractures; tendinitis;
a degenerative condition called osteochondrosis; and damage to the growth
plates of bones that can stunt them for life.” Kids and teens who play sports
are in greater danger than adults, because they are still growing and serious
injuries could interrupt and even stop the growing process altogether. Growth stunting would surely change someone’s
life forever and make living normally much more difficult.
Furthermore, parents and coaches are caring too much about
their kids’ success in sports. According
to KidsHealth, (New, March 1, 2011), it says, “Parents… place a lot of weight on their
kids’ sports accomplishments… Overzealous
parents tend to overreact to mistakes, game losses, and skipped practices…”
This kind of pressure puts stress on kids and teens to do well, and that can
prevent kids from learning from their mistakes, therefore adding even more
stress. Sometimes the stress gets so bad
that kids feel they even need to play when they are injured. For example, high school hockey
player Brie Boothby was hit in the head by the stick of another player, but she
still kept playing. According to the
TODAY show, (Murray, November 8, 2014) Brie said, “The only thought in my mind
was getting back in the game… I
thought I had to be tough… We were losing and I
needed to support my team.” Boothby felt pressured into playing while injured
and it resulted in a concussion. It took
her almost a year of therapy to be able to stand up. Being pressured to play while injured only leads
to more injuries.
On the other hand, many people agree that being active and
the competition of sports are healthy.
In the article, “Young teens who play sports feel healthier and happier
about life,” it states, “Taking part in sports is good all round for young
teens: physically, socially and mentally.
According to a new study…
playing on a sports team was linked to higher life satisfaction for both boys
and girls.” This article is suggesting
that if you play sports, your life will improve dramatically because you will
be happier and will have a better social life.
However, injuries from playing sports is still an issue for teens, and
contact sports like football can give you injuries that can be fatal. Playing sports is still a good thing for kids
and teens to do, but contact sports like tackle football are dangerous because
of the hard hits players receive. And
sometimes any sport can be damaging, because parents and coaches are putting
too much pressure on kids, which leads to stress.
Overall, teens should avoid sports that can cause serious injury. The injuries can change and ruin a person’s life forever. And teens are being pressured into playing harder and even playing while injured, which just causes more injuries. Some say that sports can improve your life, and this may be true, but overall, the negative affects of contact sports override the positive ones. Avoiding injuries from playing contact sports is crucial to having a healthier next generation.
Bibliography
Brody, Jane E.
"For Children in Sports, a Breaking Point." New York Times 24 May 2010: n. pag. Print.
Gates, Sara.
"High School Football Player Dies From On-Field Injury In Brocton, New
York." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 17 Sept. 2013. Web. 28 Jan. 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/17/high-school-football-player-dies-helmet-injury-brocton_n_3941680.html>.
Murray, Elizabeth.
"Teens Playing through Pain, Not Taking Sports Injuries Seriously." TODAY. N.p., 8 Nov. 2014. Web. 26
Jan. 2015. <http://www.today.com/health/teens-playing-through-pain-not-taking-sports-injuries-seriously-says-1D80274256>.
Springer
Science+Business Media. "Young teens who play sports feel healthier and
happier about life." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 14 October 2010. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100922082330.htm>.
"Competitive
Sports: Helping Kids Play It Cool." KidsHealth - the Web's Most Visited
Site about Children's Health. Ed. Michelle New. The Nemours Foundation, 01
Mar. 2011. Web. 29 Jan. 2015. <http://kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/feelings/sports_competition.html#>.
