football concussions: the law suit, your kids

as you know the nfl was sued and settled with former players due to hiding the effects of the head injuries.

knowing the inherent violence of the game do you think the players should have gotten any money?


would you allow your child play the game knowing the inherent violence and longterm injuries?

 

I will never let my son play the sport. I'm not a fan of it anyway, so I'm not missing anything. Since I'm not a fan, I'm probably not the best person to answer this. Lol

 

you are the best to ask...you are a parent.

 

Yes my son can play. I think there are risks in most every sport but that doesn't mean we stop playing them. It means we educate ourselves on the risks and work on prevention techniques. There's the Heads Up football initiative that works to do just that for coaches, players and parents. My son just turned 6 and he's been absolutely in love with football since he was old enough to walk. I will absolutely allow him to continue playing the sport. I'm a football mom, what can I say. Baby girl cheers and lil man plays in pads

 

My town like most start from 5 yrs old thru 12th grade, town image goes into how well the towns teams are doing, at high school it's a one high school town and most come out and support the team.
My 10th grade year I had a eye injury and wasn't allowed to play anymore but as silly as grown people take that stuff the friends you make become lifelong , was never in combat the same togetherness develops come up with a alternative to building toward something with a group of other young men, then I'm on board, nothing comes close but combat

 

they are cute in the uniforms...lol
my daughter was a cheerleader when she was about 5.

if i had a son....i wouldnt let him play. i would get him in another sport.

im being a hypocrite because i do like the game. i grew up on it.....so sue me. lol

 

Lol you can love the game and still not feel comfortable with your own child playing. As parents I think it's so easy to want to protect our kids from everything, but that's not realistic. My job as a mom is to prepare my kids for life...and that includes making sure that when they do take risks, they do so in a prepared and educated manner. I'd never let my child play any sport with coaches who didn't put the players safety first. Football builds such an amazing bond amongst the kids not to mention keeping them physically active and making them more self confident. I can appreciate that there are parents who don't see the positives over the risk. That's just not me.

The uniforms really are adorable. My daughter has done cheer and dance since 1st grade and now wants to add in basketball lol. It all keeps her active though and builds a team mentality...so important imo.

 

yeah. the girls are so adorable.

 

No football for my kids, steered them to other sports early on, basketball, volleyball, golf, horses (daughter), there are risks to them all, but football imo just has too many negative variables, not just the usual concussion, blown out joint and ligament issues, but also paralysis, degenerative brain diseases, and depression.

Horse jumping has become A LOT more safe with the invention of the personal airbag http://pointtwousa.com/, our daughter never gets on her horse without it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/24/sports/24airbag.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

 

Junior is serious about tennis, and also plays basketball and soccer with his school chums as his team sports.

 

It's probably easy for me to keep lil man in football right now cause he's so young, the games are far from violent at this age...more just learning and practicing the fundamentals. As he gets older and the hits get harder, the risk increases...maybe it'll be tougher at that point to have the positives outweigh the negatives. Peewee football (when coached properly) doesn't have me concerned. We'll see what my stance is when my baby bear hits middle school and high school though!

 

You are wise to keep a watchful eye on your little one Raider. As per the article below, there is MUCH that medicine is just starting to learn about football sustained blows to the head at all ages...

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/12/sports/footballs-risks-sink-in-even-in-heart-of-texas.html

In less than a decade, hits to the head have gone from an unavoidable (and underreported) byproduct of a tough sport to an injury that has altered the way the game is played. Recent research has indicated that players as young as 7 sustain hits to the head comparable in magnitude to those absorbed by high school and adult players.

 

That's so sad. Like I said, all is well in football at this age when its run right. If I ever saw anything fishy at practice or in a game, I'd pull my son immediately. No questions asked, no explanation needed...he'd be done with that coach, team and/or league. The coaches I'm familiar with though put the kids' safety above all else, thank goodness. In any sport, at any age, you have to trust the coach to have your child's best interest at heart. If that trust isn't there, my child doesn't play. It's that simple.

 

You sound like a very good mom, I'm sure you will continue to monitor the situation closely and do whats best for your son.

 

Thank you :freehug:

 

http://m.espn.go.com/general/story?storyId=11626686&src=desktop

Kid dies from head injury