The debate on whether parents to or not allow their children to participate in a tackling sport like football before high school has dominated the media for the last few months with each reason on whether to allow or not having almost equal measures in strength. This argumentative essay supports that kids should be allowed to play football before high school but there need to change that will enable safety for the kids. The paper views both the opponents and proponents of the issue to identify the various concerns to enable justification of their arguments.
Proponents to Allow Kids
Safety issues pertaining the sport has overshadowed the importance of the sport. Just like any other sport, tackle football has both physical and emotional advantages on the child. The running and tackling each other on the field under the guidance of qualified personnel help the kids’ exercise which is good for their growth and development (Glatter, 2015). On the emotional part, tackle football is a team sport thus enable the children develop better socializing behaviors and learn coordination. The kids learn to coordinate and think strategically which benefits them in other areas of their personal life.
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The sport is risky and may lead to concussions but at the young age of these children, there are other riskier sports, for instance, skiing, snowboarding, skateboarding and bicycling that are encouraged by the parents (Glatter, 2015). The parents purchase the needed tools to facilitate the participation of their kids in these sports whereas they are riskier than tackle football thus it would be wiser to prohibit such sports before thinking about banning participation of the kids in tackle football.
Lastly, there is past research that proves that kids who start playing tackle football in high school are more likely to suffer injuries and concussions as they have not learnt the required skills compared to the kids who began playing before high school. In a study to support that there are no major health implications undertaken in the neurosurgical department the high offices and experts had participated in football 16 times more than the ordinary undergraduates but the concussions that they suffered from which were 1.5 more than of average Americans did not inhibit their education prowess hence their current positions in the department (Glatter, 2015). The fears of brain damage and effects of concussion on education have been thrashed following the study.
Opponents Viewpoints
The current claim about the mild concussions leading to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (C.T.E) claims that a child playing tackle football is likely to have “ evidence of brain damage at the cellular level of the brain ” (Omalu, 2015). The upcoming movie by Will Smith “Concussion” portrays all the risks involved in tackle football portraying a need for change and banning kids from engaging in the sports until they join high school. Most of the viewpoints are based on C.T.E risks that portray the sport is dangerous for developing brains and since it is an accepted sport in the society, kids should wait till they are more developed to handle the tackles (Omalu, 2015). Most studies support that children should be refrained from playing the sport until they are at least aged 14 years.
Conclusion
Following the two sides viewpoints, it is clear that the sport is risky but I believe that there are benefits that should not be ignored until further studies clearly demonstrate the ways the C.T.E. is caused by concussions and why kids in high school cannot suffer the same fate. I thus propose better training for the coaches and the medical practitioners to ensure safer ways of undertaking the sport. This step is a better solution rather than banning the sport to the kids who have grown dreaming and idolizing NFL players as banning them from engaging will lead to deviant behavior, for instance, playing it with not adult supervision.
References
Glatter, R. (2015, December 23). The Reasons Not To Ban Contact Sports For Children: An Answer To 'Concussion'. Forbes . Retrieved December 15, 2016, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertglatter/2015/12/23/the-reasons-not-to-ban-contact-sports-in-children-an-answer-to-the-concussion-movie/#9cb494eaff43
Omalu, B. (2015, December 15). Don’t Let Kids Play Football. The New York Times . Retrieved December 15, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/07/opinion/dont-let-kids-play-football.html
