Would you allow your child to play football ?

[Anonymous]

Never.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My oldest played football from age five through his senior year in high school. I worried, of course. His most serious injury was a broken hand. My youngest is not an athlete. He broke his leg in three places and tore his ACL - at band camp. Two surgeries and he still has problems with his knee. My daughter had a serious head injury as a rower. She was hospitalized. It was terrifying.

Football is a dangerous sport. My son just happened to love it from kindergarten flag all the way through the big high school games.

Your football-playing son's brain injuries won't become apparent until later in life.

NP not necessarily , growing evidence shows that CTE and its affects manifest themselves on high school kids too

[Anonymous]

Glad I have girls and don't have to decide about this...or Boy Scouts

[Anonymous]

Yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes.

Care to share why ?

[Anonymous]

Flag -- that's it.

[Anonymous]

I'm sure this has already been discussed before. Right down to the topic title.

FWIW our son is chomping at the bit for the next season to start.

Yes, we know the risks. So does he. So do the coaches and our family doctor.

Why? Because he loves it and it'seems done him so much good. Confidence. Awareness of how own health. Etc.

[Anonymous]

Nope. They can get "confidence" and "awareness of health" at plenty of other things and other types of less dangerous sports. And I understand the kids could get concussions in other ways. But we can limit risk, and this is an easy way. But we're not a football family, so they probably wouldn't have played, anyway.

.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm sure this has already been discussed before. Right down to the topic title.

FWIW our son is chomping at the bit for the next season to start.

Yes, we know the risks. So does he. So do the coaches and our family doctor.

Why? Because he loves it and it'seems done him so much good. Confidence. Awareness of how own health. Etc.

This is weirdly troublesome

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes.

Care to share why ?

9:30 pretty much nailed it.

There are terrible risks with everything. Several incidents have been noted in this thread. I myself play softball and I've seen people get devastating hits to the face. I've seen devastating broken legs from soccer as well as head injuries. Might as well let him be happy and have fun. We can't wrap our kids in bubble wrap forever.

[Anonymous]

Yes.

2 of my sons play football amongst other sports. My oldest was strictly soccer. The oldest has had at least 2 concussions from soccer while the other 2 have yet to have a concussion in football.

[Anonymous]

No although I only have one child, a daughter so easy for me to say.

Lacrosse seems like a good alternative and is becoming more popular.

[Anonymous]

No. Never. The research is too compelling, and the stories too sad. And I say this as the daughter of someone who could not have gone to college without football and track scholarships.

[Anonymous]

My husband was a D1 college player. He only lets our boys play flag. He would *consider* letting them play in high school or college, depending on the position. Not everyone position is hit/tackled all the time. If you dig deep into the stats, you'll see they vary. Running back? No way. QB/WR/kicker? Maybe.

[Anonymous]

No, and it's not just because of the risk for injury. I don't like football culture. I live in TX, and my spouse played high school football while growing up in TX. The football culture isn't healthy - anointing the high school football players like gods, having cheerleaders fawning all over them, feeding them horrible food in order to make them bigger, prioritizing the game over academics. Nope.