What You Ignore Can Kill You
“Game Over for Concussion Debate: Column” by Ken Reeds, sports policy director for League of Fans and author of “How we can save sports: a game plan” is an article that brings an interesting perspective of safety to the concussion debate. He writes to inform readers of concussion related problems in sports, and how dangerous they can be. He also encourages people to stop avoiding the risks that contact sports bring and to think cautiously about whether or not the danger is worth playing. He explains that people pretend they have not heard about the issues and display “avoidance behavior.” They are scared of what might happen to their children or themselves so they avoid the issues when what they really need to do is think about the risks they are putting themselves in. Reeds is concerned that youth sports are possibly too dangerous to continue. He supports his concern by showing statistical evidence regarding youth concussions, the most prevalent concussion causing sports, medical preparation in high schools, players who put themselves at risk of Second Impact Syndrome, and comparing youth athletics with professional athletics. One of his research examples explains that it is not recommended for children under the age of 14 to play contact sports such as football, soccer, and hockey. Reeds ends the article and reiterates his point by attempting to further persuade his readers to stop avoiding concussions and to consider if sports are even worth playing.
Reeds sheds light to the predicament the sports industry is in and explains how people are continuing the problem by avoiding what they’ve learned. Instead of seeing how dangerous sports can be, they deny it and pretend like nothing could go wrong. This article shows his perspective and concern for athletes, and conveys how paramount this topic really is. Although, enough research has been done to prove that sports put athletes, especially youth athletes, at great risk of serious consequences, insufficient changes have been made to prevent or at least slow the risk of injury. I found Reeds’s article very compelling. He did, at times, seem condescending, while stating that people are displaying avoidance behavior, but overall a sense of sincerity and care for the well being of every athlete gave Reeds a caring vibe that I trusted. It reminded me of conversations with my father, who never sugar-coated problems, but always looked out for everyone’s best interest.
Before reading this article, I had always known that concussions were a big risk of sports, but never knew that playing sports at a young age makes you more vulnerable. If I would’ve known that playing while younger could cause long term harm, I would have reconsidered my own choices with sports. I also didn’t know that so many athletes were returning back to the game after being concussed and risking the Second Impact Syndrome, which Reeds describes to be the dangerous act of returning to a game or activity too soon. One of the many statistics of the article states that 40.5 percent of athletes return prematurely. I was quite surprised because I anticipated that the players would be much more cautious since it probably hurt when they were concussed. The fact that they continue to play once already having been hit in the head further proves Reeds’s claim that people avoid problems and should take concussions more seriously.
Citation
Reed, Ken. (2015, March 6). Game over for concussions: Column. USA Today. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/amp/amp.usatoday.com/story/24383229/