Have fears of brain injury affected your decisions about the sports you let your children play?
Posted at 6:00 AM on December 18, 2009
by Eric Ringham
(7 Comments)
Filed under: Health
Growing concerns about head injuries and brain damage have prompted calls for strict standards governing high school football and other sports. Have fears of brain injury affected your decisions about the sports you let your children play?
Comment texted to MPR:
The only change has been that we got our daughter a helmet to downhill ski in. She loves it. -anonymous
Comments (7)
Knowledge has affected my decisions about protective equipment, not participation. I don't remember anyone wearing a bike helmet when I was a kid. Now it is rare to see a bicyclist without a helmet.
Absolutely. The sports culture continues to be in a state of denial, putting players at risk. When I hear about HS players who are demanding to be allowed to play after such injuries and then allowed to by both parents and coaches it reinforces the take it for the team mentality. I do not want my children exposed to such pressures.
I will insist that my children wear helmets when riding a bike or a horse. Helmets can save lives and prevent traumatic brain injury.
human brains don't complete developing until lat in the teens or early twenties. ONLY "No-contact" sports should be encouraged. The upside - more requirement to develop skills. The down-side - reduced injuries. Oh wait that;s and upside to.
My parents didn't let me play football until 8th grade. When I have children old enough to want to play football, the same rule will apply. I can't protect my children from everything in this world. I can set a minimum standard, but in the end, they have to be allowed to take a few risks. My parents did that for me as well. There is nothing 100% safe in this life.
I boxed for two and a half years in college. After recognizing the debilitating neurological effects my coach was experiencing, the link between the sport and brain injury was clear. I didn't quit the team, but I also didn't enter any tournaments after that and instead just participated in practice sessions to stay in shape.
Not so much the brain injury as the drug using, wife cheating/beating, arrogant, overpaid, criminals that are now professional athlete role models. Sorry if that over simplifies what professional athletes are but that is what is portrayed in the news media (and what children see and hear).
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