Should Kids Play Contact Sports? By Emma Crowley 711

            Injuries related to young people playing contact sports have become a controversial issue. Everyday over 3,000 kids are injured due to these aggressive sports. That’s about one kid every 25 seconds.  Contact sports are risky because injury rates are getting higher, parents and coaches are pushing kids too hard, and too many people think that competition is healthy for you and not unsafe.  Teenagers should not play contact sports because it is dangerous for kids at such a young age.

            One reason why teenagers shouldn’t play contact sports is that injury rates are getting higher.  The web page for the Wall Street Journal reports say  “When you look at the total number of injuries, it’s about 1.24 million injuries 2013 [due to contact sports].”  This sounds crazy but true.  Kids are too competitive and this often makes them get too physical.  Kids as well as adults don’t take into account the seriousness of these sports and don't realize the injuries that could result.  Another example of this is that the web page for the Huffington Post states  “39 high school football players have died since 2000 because of injuries sustained while playing football.”  This—let me remind you—is just football.  This risk is because children are being too rough with each other.  But because they are getting too rough with each other they can get injured easily because their bodies are not yet fully developed.  The web page of Family Health says, “Teens participating in sports run an increased risk of injury…Teens vary in their development and are different sizes…  the skeleton is also immature.”  This proves that teens are not yet fully developed so they have a higher risk of getting permanently damaged.  So in the end it is not only dangerous to play these types of sports at any age, but, children playing these sports are at a greater risk of injury or even death.

            Another reason why teenagers shouldn’t play contact sports is because parents and coaches push kids too hard.  An article for The Seattle Times states “Be it soccer, gymnastics, baseball, basketball, or ice skating, more and more youngsters are getting pushed into making a full-time commitment to a single sport at an earlier and earlier age.”  This is showing that parents are not aware of this risk they are putting on their kids  at such a young age.  They are driven by the possibility of a sports scholarship.  Parents and coaches need to understand that this is putting their child in a dangerous position and need to understand that sports aren’t always safe so you can’t push them so hard.  When children focus on only one particular sport they are putting unequal strain on certain muscles.  This can put a lot of wear and tear on your body.    The web page of abconyourside.com said “Athletic trainers say that some sports that require a lot of repetitive motion can put a lot of wear and tear on a kids body.” Sports can be good for you but if you play too much (which parents enforce) it affects your kid’s body and health.  Parents and coaches have these kids train and work way too hard. In fact it is slowly injuring them without them even knowing.  This will affect them when they get older. 

            A final reason why teenagers shouldn’t play contact sports is that some people mistakenly think that competition is healthy for kids but, in reality, too much competition is not.  For example the Kids Health article states that “It’s ok to be competitive…more fun when kids actually compete.”  This is true because it is fun when you play competitive games, I get it but what if the game takes a wrong turn and you maybe suffer a serious injury.  Still call that fun? People should start taking these things more seriously.  An example of this is that the website today.com Sheinelle Jones, high school hockey player ”Was struck in the side of her head with an opponent’s stick. Boothby blacked out.” She blacked out, when she regained consciousness all she thought about was getting back in the game. She says “I thought I had to be tough, and I thought I needed to get back in because we were losing and I needed to support my team”.  This clearly shows that she has been taught that the competition is the most important thing, but it is not. Later that night she began to feel nauseous and was losing her memory and she was. This example shows how dangerous it is to play competitive sports, and not realize the risk of injury.  So many deaths and injuries are happening that it’s come down to this.  People need to understand that playing sports without adequate protection and safety guidelines can be very dangerous. 

            In conclusion, kids shouldn’t play competitive sports because it is too dangerous.  Kids’ bodies are not yet fully developed and safe from possible injuries, yet injuring rates are getting higher because parents and coaches push kids too hard, thinking it will be safe.  What is at stake is far worse than winning any game.   Would you rather have the glory of finishing one game or the glory of a healthy lifetime?
Bibliography:

   1.(n.d.). Retrieved February 3, 2015, from http://www.today.com/heath/ teen playing through pain not taking sports injuries seriously says study 



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(n.d.). Retrieved February 3, 2015, from http://www.wsj.com/video/ "how children and teens can avoid sports injuries" 


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KidsHealth - the Web's most visited site about children's health. (n.d.). Retrieved February 3, 2015, from http://kidshealth.org/

•                4.teen stress 101: teens training too hard for sports www.abc6onyourside.com/news/features/top-stories/teen-stress101

•                5.High school football player dies from on field injury in brocton new york. (n.d.). Retrieved February 3, 2015, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/17helmet