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Should Banning Football Be Removed From High School?

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Football is, in a sense, an amalgamation of what we perceive our nation 's values to be: teamwork, dedication and self-sacrifice. These values can be attributed to most any team sport though it is football that has become our favorite, satiating our lust for brutality. While this is not inherently a bad thing, the sport poses a much greater risk of concussions that other sports, more specifically to high school students. These injuries have previously had unknown long term effects but are now linked to dementia, depression and irritability and a wide range of other medical issues. Most players whether in high school or the NFL are painfully unaware of the risks that concussions may have on them. While banning football on a professional level is implausible, football should be removed from high school as the risks are insurmountable, especially when the same athleticism and character building can be found in most other team sports. Most players, regardless of their level of play are ill informed of the frequency and the potential long term effects of concussions. The NFL recently paid “$765 million in restitution...to former players” (Banks 605) for concussion-related lawsuits. Schools often doing just as poorly as the NFL at informing players, using consent forms that do not fully explain potential injuries or worse, downplay their frequency and severity. Often times though even players who do know the risks play the game as “ college ball is dangled as one way out of

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