AP Lang and Comp Final: Persuasive Speech
Imagine a straight “A” student athlete
with his or her glistening future ahead of them and in one play, their entire
realm of possibilities is snatched before their eyes.
As
a young athlete, you may not think about the lifelong consequences of concussions,
but they are severe and extremely common.
High school sports have soared in
popularity in the last decade, and consequently the power and athleticism has intensified
as well. This combination has led to an
increasing risk of serious injury. According to the American Academy of
Pediatrics, since 1945, more
than 90% of all head injury fatalities from sports have occurred in athletes in
high school or younger. In Frontline’s documentary, Football High, they identify how important high school sports are in
the social culture of this age group. In
addition, football has the highest rate of concussions in all of high school
sports, a consequence of repeated hits to the helmet. The problem is magnified
by the common mentality instilled in player’s minds of, “play hard, hit hard,
fall hard.” But football players are not
the only ones at risk. In 2012, both football
and girl’s soccer had equal rates of head injuries at 3.6 concussions per 1,000
exposures. (Haltead and Walter 599). Closely behind these two sports were boy’s
lacrosse, boy’s soccer, girl’s basketball, and wrestling.
Dr. Stan Herring, a clinical professor at
the University of Washington, estimates there are 4 million concussions every
year in non-professional sports in the United States. This number is alarming
as most athletes and parents are unaware of the severe physical, cognitive, and
emotional consequences that accompany these brain injuries. Research done by American Medical Society for
Sports Medicine shows that as many as 50% of concussions go underreported. And
this is important because once concussed, there is a 2 to 5.8 times higher risk
of sustaining another concussion. Many
players think they can “tough it out” but their brain injuries only worsen. This
is evident in what is known today as “second-impact syndrome,” when an athlete
sustains another head injury before the previous one has healed. And for those
of you concerned about your G.P.A, compared with similar students without a
history of concussion, athletes with 2 or more concussions demonstrate
statistically lower grade-point averages (Harmon and Drenzer 2).
Although there has been much written
about the recognition and treatment of concussions during games, there has been
little on the education of players and parents for youth and high school sports.
This I know because I have played sports
for years and have never received any formal or informal education on
concussions.
Some progress has been made. An
organization called “Heads Up” is an example of an educational program developed
by USA Football to advance player safety. This is a great example of how
football has recognized the importance of concussions, but we need to make it a
more formal, mandatory, and universal program.
Even though athletic equipment continues
to improve, concussions are still a major problem. We need to find better
answers. I think the best approach is to equip the players and parents with
more than gear. Today, formal education about concussions exists for coaches,
but not parents and players. The parents and players are the ones who need it
the most.
My answer is that all youth athletic
organizations should require an online course on concussions for parents, players,
and coaches before the start of every season. This education will allow parents
and players to make informed decisions about the sport and give them the tools to
minimize or prevent concussions. Also, education for high school athletes will
hopefully prevent them from hiding their injuries.
The players and parents need to be aware
of how serious concussions can be and how the choices made on the field can
adversely impact their health. For example, football players should be
instructed to avoid leading with their helmet because repetitive trauma to their
head can cause chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. As displayed in the
visual aid, for soccer players, heading the ball in meaningless situations may
not be in a player’s best interest. These small but important tips can reduce
the number of concussions and help athletes play smarter, instead of harder.
While some may think this education will
have little effect on athlete’s behavior and will not be incorporated in their
play, the information will lurk in the back of their mind and keeps them aware
of the consequences they face. I think the most effective way to create a
lasting impact on the players is to educate them directly.
By initiating mandatory education for all
youth sport participants, we will empower them to make better choices for their
own health. If we simply rely on the companies
that make the gear or the sporting associations that make the rules, we are
unlikely to solve the problem. Properly
educated, parents may think twice about their child’s participation if they understand
the gravity of the problem and the long-term cognitive effects of
concussions.
After all, the majority of us are not
likely to make a living playing sports, but rather by using our heads.
Work Cited
5.
http://physicians.cattonline.com/resources/files/amssm-position-statement-concussion-in-sport.pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.