High school sports: What's the risk of injury?
Team sports are an excellent way for kids to get exercise, learn a new skill, and become a better team player. But sports are also inherently risky. Some parents may worry that their child will get hurt during play, and it can be hard to know how to judge the risk vs. the benefit of joining a team. A recent study may help parents in their decision making. Researchers looked at data from 100 public schools across the nation and this is what they found:
- High school students get hurt more often.
- High school football players get hurt most often in play, followed by girls' soccer and boys' soccer.
- The most frequent injuries are to the ankle, followed by the head and upper leg.
- The most common injuries were sprains or strains, followed by bruises, fractures, and concussions.
- Most injuries benched players for less than a week, but 10% of injuries put them out for the season or for good.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Rob O. 3-28-2008 @ 11:54AM
I'm sure I'll get flamed for this, but...
More than the potential for physical damage to your child, I'd be concerned for the ethical crunching that is liable to occur.
Perhaps I'm indulging in a little exaggeration and stereotyping here but it seems that high school football can frequently be a springboard for all manner of downfalls. Certainly, there's often the casting aside of scholastic priorities for the sake of athletic ones. But more worrisome is that sports at this level grooms these kids for the incredibly corruptive environment of professional sports.
Professional (and I use that term loosely) football players are overwhelmingly morally and ethically bankrupt. No, certainly not all of them. But you can easily pick 8 or 9 out of a dozen who are. This environment seems to breed contemptible behaviors and attitudes.
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queenoqueens 3-28-2008 @ 1:30PM
Rob, I don't disagree with you about the bad behavior that professional football players are often in the news for.
But if you think about it, do you think there's more corruption amongst football players than there is in any other industry where there's lots of money/power/ego involved? For example, Enron, and pretty much any government, to name two. And they can't all be former high school football players (Or can they?? Hmm.)
Unfortunately, I think moral/ethical bankruptcy and corruption are everywhere. However, the stereotype I've run into more than once is more of an "anti-intellectual machismo", which usually involves lack of tolerance and consideration for others.
Then again, my husband was a football player (albeit not professional), and he's a pretty upstanding guy all around. So go figure.
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