The Dangers Of Football Essay

The dangers of tackle football for children Children, ages fourteen and younger, are developing mentally and physically and therefore should not play tackle football because of its negative impact. The risk of children getting injured can be harmful and detrimental to their health. Football at the youth level is the greatest challenge by far. “Children are among the most vulnerable to injury because they have weak necks and immature musculature, and their brains are still developing” (Cantu & Hyman, p.29). According to an article from The New York Times, “the age of twelve was chosen as a benchmark because it is roughly the point by which brains in young boys are thought to have already undergone key periods of development” (Belson, 2015). “Research has shown that boys younger than twelve who injure their brains can take longer to recover and have poor cognition in childhood” (Belson, 2015). Accumulating evidence suggests that the repeated collisions inherent in youth football may cause significant harm. The players might be smaller, but …show more content…
This combination creates a danger, where children are not physically developed enough to absorb contact. This can put them at a serious risk of a concussion, which can lead to brain damage. When a child takes a hard blow from falling or being struck in the helmet, it is more difficult to keep the head steady. “The result is greater force to the brain from being jerked inside the skull” (Hyman, 2012). The brain is the softest organ in the human body that is unable to withstand cumulative blows of impact. These findings are likely to fuel an already fierce debate about when it is safe to allow children to begin playing tackle football and other contact sports. The debate on when it is safe to allow to children to play tackle football should be the parent’s decision with the concept of analyzing the risk