Children and Concussions

Should we protect children from high impact sports?  I think we should, but under no circumstances should sports be banned.  So how would this work?

High impact sports, like Rugby and Football among others, put children at risk of a concussion with children being very susceptible to brain damage.  Apparently a single concussion can impair a child for over two years.   Yes children want to play these sports, but they cannot make an informed decision on when to play.  So now it is up to adults to figure out what to do.  Some policies and laws are being put in place that can help.  One such policy is "suspecting concussion".  What this does is have a child who is suspected of having a concussion be removed from the game immediately so they can be checked by a doctor on the side lines (another child on the team will sub in while this happens).  This helps ensure a child with a concussion gets help immediately.  Another such policy/law is "return to play" laws.  In this case, if a young athlete gets a concussion they must be cleared by a doctor before they can play again in any contact sports.  This policy protects the child from further damage to their brains.  Some colleges have taken to eliminating full contact training to limit concussions and other injuries which protects athletes.  Thus alternative means of training or even non-contact versions can be used to compete and train with one another.  Another idea is to base players on size rather than age which prevents kids from getting injured by the bigger/stronger members of their age group (bigger children hit harder and thus are more likely to cause severe injury to their smaller peers).

Conclusion:  There are options, as stated above, for the children to be protected from concussions and any further brain damage.  It takes a little common sense to balance child safety and them playing the sports we love.