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Should football be banned in U.S. High schools?

"CBS News reports that the number of high school students playing football has dropped by more than 25,000 over the past five years. Schools in Missouri, New Jersey and Maine have either canceled or cut short their seasons because of injuries or low student interest."

[learning.blogs.nytimes.com]

Should football be banned in High school?

Thinking points:

Scholarships
Injuries
Exercise
Costs
Teamwork
Deaths
American Culture

Bonus: What about the NFL?

  • 13 votes
  • 14 votes
  • 6 votes
  • 8 votes
silvereyes 8 Dec 7
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25 comments

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13

I think football, at every level, should be replaced by sarcastaball.

I love it. I want to try out. Bet you can't be too old for that sport!

@evestrat, I hope I didn't ruin your keyboard. 😉

@AstralSmoke, oh, sur-r-re, you can ne-e-ever be too old.

@silvereyes, I'm far behind on this season. :'(

@TwistedMister, you can sign up wherever Butters' Creamy Goo is sold.

Now that's a sport I can play!

12

It should be banned from all publicly funded schools. My tax dollars should not be going to promoting brain injuries. That's the "Pro-Life" position, right?

Abso-Damn-Lutely agree.

5

I wimped out and went with Option #3. I don't care for football and am immensely pleased & relieved that my teenage nephew - who hasn't found a sport he doesn't love - opted to forego football. If I had sons, I wouldn't let them play.

On the other hand, there are A LOT of obsessive fans of the game out there (some of them in my family) and the billions it generates is mind-blowing so I don't see it losing steam any time soon. But banning? I don't believe that ever works.

This isn't a personal choice issue like alcohol or drugs where prohibition just creates a black market. This is institutional and a ban would definitely work.

5

I think it should be played, but with revised (less aggressive) rules in place so injuries are less likely. My eldest grandson recently broke his collarbone during practice; but my main concern is the head injuries.

5

The worst thing is college football. I was taking a Tuesday/Thursday class and I paid for the whole class. About 20% of my class was cancelled because Thursday afternoon games shut down the campus. Absolute BS.

5

Funny... children should be protected from religion, but not football?

5

It shouldn't be banned (I hate laws against things people want to do) but it shouldn't be supported with taxpayer's money.

4

TBH, with the damage to the brain that is being studied to be occurring, really borders on abuse if not simply willful stupidity. Whatever though, this is Murica. Let your kids knocks their heads about and injure themselves in the head permanently for a lame ass game.

4

This question obviously hit a nerve.
Football and Baseball play a far too important of a school's curriculum. Academics are often put on the sideline for the better players. Again, education is a resource that needs money and football becomes a big source of funding. I feel this is wrong. There are other sports (I was varsity tennis and track) and sports should be a part of a school's program. Football/Baseball should be just one part of a sports program not 'the' main sport.

I went to Michigan State where the football coach was the highest paid faculty member and the teams were made largely of guys who never would have gained admittance based on their academic records but received some of the biggest scholarships available. It is just wrong on so many leels.

4

Even though I disagree wit pro sports they never thank or reward the educators that got them where they are. A wise sensei told me this once even though sports seem inane they are necessary to entertain the masses and to remember that the general population are sheep that need herded. Now getting to high school sports. Sports for some people teach a certain type of discipline. These young boys have a surge of testosterone and playing an aggressive sport is an outlet. I figure that it most likely by playing sports it prevents them from beating up the nerd that one day will be their boss.

4

I think it should be up to the parents. Government shouldn’t ban it. If interest continues to wane, it may bring down the sport regardless. I am grateful my kids have no interest in it. I would deter them from playing.

4

Tackle football should have a severe rules overhaul. When I was an adolescent, I heard about "flag" football. All you do is grab the opponent's flag from their side and hold it up.

4

It's true that there is no safe sport. Even chess has its casualties. But there are alternatives. Each school should have an elite jellybean team. They could play on a shortened football field, dressed in inflatable suits, all with varying colors to make it impossible to detect who was on their team.

4

No on the ban... I think the school should insure those that play. That could change rules of protective gear.

Yes... big payouts!

3

Watch "Friday Night Tots" on Netflix. Documentary about Texas youth football. Some of those people are downright scary.

That is exactly what is wrong with high school football. It is practically a cult that teaches kids all the wrong values whatever some may say and it becomes the be all and end all that distracts them from their education. A friendly game now and then? OK. Interschool rivalries and a destructive creation of social status is not. The parents who live vicariously through their kids' sporting successes make it even worse.

These kids are 8-10 years old.

Just like religion. Hook 'em while they're young!

3

Good luck banning that in Oklahoma...

kinda like banning racism in Alabama, eh?

3

I played football in high school and in the US Army. Over the years I suffered a broken nose (twice), torn ligaments in the shoulder, torn cartilage in the knee, a badly pulled groin muscle, a twisted back which later resulted in a herniated disc, and a "stinger".

I also coached high school football for 4 years, and my coaching partner and I made sure that our players were in top condition, were always alert and on their toes -- literally and physically. and with the equipment which would minimize injuries. Over 4 years, the most serious injury we had among our players was 1 dislocated shoulder.

If I have a son today of high school age, I would not let him play unless his coaches took the same care that we did.

3

I am a major NFL fan. I love the game of football. My High School back in the 70s never had a team-rumor was a boy was severely injured-now safety equipment has improved substantially years later. Now I believe they have a football team. Go New England Patriots. Gillette Stadium is 15 minutes from my alma mater.

What do you think about Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy?

@bingst I love it when you talk dirty.

I know I was upset when Darryl Stingley of the Pats was sidelined. Hopefully more advances in helmet protection. I love football sorry.

2

Here in the south a player dies every summer during practice when it's 100° or higher, very sad but never surprising. If this was any other activity parents wouldn't be allowing their children to participate.

2

Football causes a lot of social damage in the US and should be restricted to friendly games in physical education classes in its tag variation. In high schools it is over glorified and creates a social status that divides people and detracts from the business at hand: education. Exercise, sportsmanship and the other benefits of games should be taught but not tribal rivalries between classmates and other schools. It is a thinly veiled pretense of war as it stands today, not a value that should be encouraged. Corporate sports of all types are the "bread and circuses" of American culture and distract people from caring about what is going on in the world and with our own government. Many people can quote statistics about long ago football games but couldn't tell you who their congress person is. The players are doped up glandular freaks who increasingly are perpetrators of all manner of abuse and crime. Hardly the role models that young people should adulate. They are corporate owned and are paid millions for endorsement deals selling shit we don't need. The world would be a better place without them.

1

All sports should be banned globally!

THOTH Level 4 Dec 8, 2017

I'd like to see kids involved in non competitive activities. At least safe ones that all can participate in. Track and Field is pretty good.

1

If football is a health hazard and messes with your brain activity then it should be banned permanently

1

Parents should be required to watch a presentation which clearly and accurately lays out the medical risks of play. Then they should be required to sign a release stating they are aware of these risks.

and then it's OK for their kid to be subjected to violence proved to cause brain injuries?

0

Other. A culture without the desire for football would be great.

0

Ban it. Too dangerous. Too violent. Teaches aggression. Too expensive; schools can't afford books, materials and decent teachers. Most kids can't participate.

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