babble » blogs » Strollerderby
Strollerderby
Are Contact Sports More Dangerous than Fun?
“Suck it up!”
How many times have you been at a child’s sporting event and heard those words yelled at a child who may have just suffered an injury, whether it’s a scraped knee or a twisted ankle?
For many little boys and girls, contact sports are regarded as fun. And they should be. There is nothing like a Pee-Wee football game in crisp fall weather, or an upbeat girls’ soccer game. If your child is a serious sports player, you know that they look forward to nothing more than taking the field with their friends, aiming to win. And if they get hurt? Well, they’re taught to play through the pain, showing everyone just how tough they can be. But stunning information now shows that concussions and head injuries are on the rise, and those occurring in childhood are having lasting effects on children.
We all know the importance of teaching our kids to be team players, and for many parents, that lesson comes from letting their children play team sports. Whether it’s soccer or synchronized swimming, sports are known to teach children how to interact with each other and how to lose graciously. It’s also a great way to keep kids active, encouraging exercise and fresh air.
But in contact sports like football and hockey, no second thought is given to the rough-and-tumble way that kids (especially young boys) approach the sport. They’re encouraged to hit and tackle to the best of their abilities, opening the door for head injuries to occur. And even when they’re not in a person-to-person contact sport, injury is still possible (even “heading” the ball in soccer can net a child a concussion). While protective gear is mandatory, there is not much a little plastic helmet can do when your child gets hit head-to-head by someone twice their size (common in high school sports). The number of concussions in teenagers has risen sharply, and studies are showing that ALS (Lou Gherig’s disease) is becoming a common side effect of childhood sports-related head injuries. Yet parents encourage their children to play through pain, with some parents being caught on YouTube telling their kids to just “suck it up.” A hard hit is a good hit, regardless of the consequences.
So how much is too much? Are we essentially harming our kids by teaching them to play hard? Is our defensive gear not strong enough?
Go Back To Strollerderby
0 Comments
SE commented on Sep 07 10 at 1:57 pmI have attended a whole lot of youth games and coach a girls’ contact sport, but I have never heard anyone–coach or parent–yell at a kid to “suck it up.” I have certainly never uttered anything like that myself. We play a rough sport, but despite (or maybe because of?) that fact, we are very, very concerned about our players’ long-term health–after all, the kids are the future of the sport we love.
bob commented on Sep 07 10 at 2:45 pmI heard it plenty in sports and gym class, too, when I was a kid. Another favorite was “walk it off,” which always seemed like an absurd thing to say to someone limping.
.
However, I see nothing in the article that indicates that injury rates are increasing generally. The only thing close is a sentence that says hockey injuries increase when body checking is allowed.
Add your take:
Note: Babble is a supportive, diverse community. We encourage a range of opinions,
but any unduly hostile comments will be removed.
Comments are delayed up to 15 minutes
Lori Garcia 
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice.
0