High school football risks

In the recent discussion of safety in high school football, one thing that I didn’t see mentioned was the responsibility of parents to consider well the long-term effects on the future health of their sons who play the sport.

I’m not a football fan; I consider it a brutal sport. Medical experts have noted that evidence has linked the repeated head impacts of the sport to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a progressive brain disease marked by depression, apathy, anxiety, explosive rages, memory loss, and problems with higher-order thinking.

My sister-in-law made the wise decision of preventing her sons from playing football in high school. My two grandsons played football until they wisely dropped out in their senior year to concentrate more fully on academics. However, both had suffered injuries that were not deemed serious (if broken bones aren’t considered “serious”).

One interesting statistic is that the average longevity of American males is 76.3 years, while a recent study showed that the longevity of pro football players is just 59.6 years. Now, I realize that pro football isn’t the same thing as high school football. Certainly, high school football has a history of fandom and celebration. In this season of homecoming events and the excitement of athletic competitions, it’s hard for parents to say no to their sons who want to play. But I can’t help feeling that the ultimate solution to the issue of high school football safety is for parents to firmly say “no.”

There are other sports that don’t subject players to as much risk as football.

Jack Kramer

Lily Lake