Our family has turned into a bunch of football fanatics. No, we aren’t glued to the TV all day Sunday or on Monday night (I’m not anyway), but with school back in session we have a standing date with a row of silver bleachers at two local high schools. Both my cousin and nephew are members of their respective high school football teams and we try to make it to their home games to cheer them on. After doing this for the past few weeks all I can say is… thank goodness my kid is not on the field.
Watching my cousin and nephew is nerve-wracking enough, I can’t imagine how I would cope if it was my son out there getting pummeled week after week. Sadly, statistics show hundreds of thousands of children are hurt on school playing fields every year. Of those injured, studies show the biggest problem is concussions. And, it’s no wonder, have you ever sat through an entire high school football game? Those kids are getting clobbered. My cousin has gotten paint knocked off his helmet. While my nephew has so many bruises I wince just looking at him.
I know my family members aren’t alone in being concerned about sports related injuries—especially concussions. In fact, my aunt recently told me that prior to the season starting parents were given a pamphlet regarding concussions, which listed warning signs (e.g. headache, vomiting, memory loss, dizziness, etc.) and the fact that children who have had a concussion are more likely to have another one.
But, what I found even more informative, was a study done by a national task force researching head injuries in football. The study found that the number of concussions suffered by high school football players alone range from 30,000 to 250,000 a year. Much of the research pointed to ill-fitting helmets.
In the course of the study, doctors looked at more than a thousand schools, and found common mistakes in the way kids are wearing their helmets. (Mistakes that could lead to injuries.) For example, the study found that with a proper fitting helmet ear holes should be symmetrical, covering the ears and on the same plane as the ears themselves. In addition, the bottom of the front of the helmet should be one inch above the eyebrows. And, the chinstrap should be even on both sides, and the facemask should sit two inches in front of the nose.
They seem like relatively small adjustments that could make a big difference on the field… so by handing out this information is the school looking for parents to rally helmet manufacturers? Or are they encouraging parents to make sure their child is issued a properly fitting helmet? And, what role do coaches play in preventing head injuries on the field?
Does your child play high school football? What do you think?
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