Concussion Persuasive Speech

While the NFL is currently a very entertaining and popular American past time, there is one issue that threatens the future of the game-concussions. Concussions affect 1.6 to 3.8 million athletes and children annually in the United States. Among athletes, football is the most common sport involving risks of concussions for males, and soccer is the most common sports with concussion risks for females. The NFL has admitted that brain trauma effects a third of all NFL players (Knowles.) Concussions have been part of the game since the very beginning, but it 's only in the past 50 years or so that medical science and the public has become aware of the serious long term effects of concussions. The NFL is spending money on researching the problem, because they have been sued from hundreds of players that have suffered long-term damage from concussions. The NFL needs to dedicate more money and research into increasing helmet safety, implementing rules and policies to protect players, and utilizing the best response treatment to prevent and protect players from concussions.

High school athletes are more vulnerable to concussions than older students and make take longer to recover. In order for their brains to heal completely, they need to take longer time to recover.

“CDC reports show that the amount of reported concussions has doubled in the last 10 years. The American Academy of Pediatrics has reported that emergency room visits for concussions in kids ages 8 to 13 years old has doubled, and concussions have risen 200 percent among teens ages 14 to 19 in the last decade” (Head Case, 2013). It is reported that between 5-10% of athletes will suffer concussion during any given sports season. Football is the most common sport with concussion risk for males with a 75% chance. It has also been found that 78% of concussions happen during games as opposed to during practices (Science Daily, 2014).

In the National Football League, many players have the risk of receiving a concussion. Many players that receive concussions are sidelined for multiply weeks and cannot play in the games they miss. For example Chris Miller had received multiply concussions during his career in the NFL. He was then forced to retire after receiving “5 concussions within 14 months” (Kia Boriboon, 2013). He tried to make a “comeback in 1999 but was sidelined again by another concussion” (Kia Boriboon 2013).

Statistics show NFL players are paid $1.9 million a year on average. An injury as severe and time-consuming as a concussion can undoubtedly counteract this kind of pay. Professional athletes do not want to jeopardize sitting out a game and missing their opportunity, “‘[t]he return to play decision is based on symptoms, and the problem is the players all want to get back yesterday and the question is whether they are being truthful and honest’ during their evaluations, Stieg said” (Futterman). There is nothing doctors or trainers can do if the athlete lies about being symptom free. They can suspect the severity of the concussion by just observing the athlete’s behavioral response toward certain things, like light or noise.

Concussion in schools and the NFL are a problem. They can be life-altering injuries, and they have been around for years before anyone became aware of how dangerous they can be. Ever since the discovery of football many athletes have gotten their “bell rung” and doing damage to their brain with no knowledge of it. It has been recently that there has been more talk of understanding how severe concussions can be. Many think it is not a big deal but it is considered a mild form of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). The NFL had ignored all the information given to them regard concussion and they need to review their protocol and enforce it. Many players are still playing while

Head injuries, including concussions, particularly in the game of American football, have become a subject of deep concern, much study and even Congressional hearings in the United States.

Out of the 140 goals scored in the 2015 Women’s World Cup 15.7 percent were scored off of headers. That’s not a very high percentage so why are they trying to make heading the ball a big issue. If football is the number one leading for most concussions for males, why aren’t they doing anything about that? The current perception is that in soccer younger girls should not head the ball because many believe that it will cause a concussion. Head to ball contact isn’t the problem, the problem is many believe that head to ball contact causes concussions, and therefore putting restrictions on girls’ soccer.

    Concussions in sports are a very serious subject, including it’s recovery and prevention. Concussions have affected many athletes and even normal people and too many concussions could end up having serious consequences later on in life. Sports leagues and doctors should be taking more precaution in making sure everyone stays safe and healthy.

More than 300,000 sports-related concussions are reported each year in the United States, and although the awareness of concussions and other head injuries is rising, concussions are still very dangerous to young athletes. Some may say that after an athlete receives a concussion, they just have to wait until the obvious, and most common symptoms like dizziness and nausea subside before they can play again; with medication, and constant rest, this may only take 2 weeks, however, depending on the severity of the injury, there could be some other underlying symptoms that are even more dangerous than the obvious ones. After a having a concussion, student athletes are also much more prone to a second, more severe, traumatic head injury (especially

Over the past couple of years the National Football League as well as other football associations have witnessed a rise in the occurrences of severe head trauma to players resulting in concussions. One of the NFL’s top priorities is the health and safety of their players. These NFL players bring an abundant amount of joy and excitement to their wild, raving, die hard football fans across the nation. However, these mens’ health today and for decades to come is equally if not more important than their careers that often last an average of 4 years playing football. Despite the increase in the number of concussions in football, leagues are doing all they can to prevent concussions by implementing new rules, provide new and improved equipment,

The symptoms include memory problems, nausea, temporary disorientation, and brief unconsciousness, while more serious concussions can result in permanent brain damage, especially if repeated. In the most severe cases, the brain could swell, consequently putting pressure on the brain stem which controls basic life functions, particularly breathing. Recently concussed people did 25% worse on memory and comprehension assessments compared to those without a concussion, a study published in the journal Neurology found. The concussed participants showed signs of brain damage on imaging scans one year later, despite evaluation results being equal between the two groups. Kids of the approximate middle school age, 12-15, are at the highest risk. Not only are they at the highest risk, younger kids are now sustaining concussions more frequently. The most recent data from the Center for Disease Control shows that 25,376 children were sent to the emergency room due to brain injury received from participating in football each year. According to the Southwest Athletic Trainers’ Association, emergency room visits for concussions doubled between 8 and 13 year olds between 1997 and

Concussions have become a major controversy in the United States. Because of uninformed students and negligent coaches, many student athletes are experiencing the severe complications that accompany the injury. High school athletes seem to be the most affected and for this reason are more vulnerable than other students to experience concussions. Not properly managing concussions in time could have significant and problematic injuries that could potentially effect the victims overall ability to live a healthy life. For this reason, athletes should have to stay out of any physical activity for the necessary time to allow their brain to properly heal.

A recent study of college football players has shown that those who participate in high contact sports and have had a concussion before have a 300% higher chance of having another one in comparison to athletes that have never had a concussion before (Jolicoeur et al, 2007). The NFL and NCAA have enacted several rule changes in order to minimize the occurrence of concussions. These new rules, like many before them, have come under the scrutiny of the very athletes that they were meant to protect. The NHL and NHL Players Association in 1997 together created a program in order to get a better understanding of concussions and how to prevent them (Burke et al, 2011). According to Covassin (2008), athletes who have had more than one concussion take a longer time to recover with each concussion that they suffer from.

Could you imagine not having the option of playing sports when you were a kid? Although some people believe concussions would be lowered if children under the age of 16 did not play sports, the school district shouldn't ban sports because children's mental, physical, and social health are improved.