https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/aug/29/high-school-football-deaths-public-health-crisis

  • MaoTheLawn [any, any]
    ·
    4 months ago

    I'm going to say that isn't the full story. It's most likely 'second impact syndrome', and the crowd was not observant enough to notice the kid would've already had a big collision before that one.

    The brain can take a hard football sized knock, it'll just swell a little and you'll have a concussion. If you get hit once it's already swelled, pop, that's a bleed.

    If proper safety was being taught he would've been pulled from the pitch after the first hit.

    • Belly_Beanis [he/him]
      ·
      4 months ago

      Proper safety would be not having kids put in situations (like a sport where they get tackled by other 200 pound children) where their brain could start swelling as a result.

      • nothx [he/him]
        ·
        4 months ago

        Agreed, the mental gymnastics required to defend American football is wild.

      • MaoTheLawn [any, any]
        ·
        4 months ago

        Well, I suppose so, yeah. Some people just like contact sports, and I think they should be allowed to play it if they're made aware of the risks. Same goes for any other risky activity.

        • Belly_Beanis [he/him]
          ·
          4 months ago

          "But what if the child consents tho?" is not the defense you think it is lmao

          • MaoTheLawn [any, any]
            ·
            edit-2
            4 months ago

            Ah yes, contact sport is totally the same as pedophilia.

            What's your point? You want the adult to consent on their behalf for them to play the game? Sure. That's probably already a reality, in that if a parent tells their kid they aren't allowed to play or says it's too dangerous then a lot of kids would obey their parent. Mine wouldn't allow me to play rugby without a scrumcap when I was a kid.

            If you ban the sport wholesale, people are just going to play it in unsafe deregulated environments. I think that even happened to rugby in Greece at one point.

            • Belly_Beanis [he/him]
              ·
              4 months ago

              My point is kids shouldn't be playing full contact football, regardless of whether or not their parents approve. The long term ramifications are not something they can consent to. It's like giving kids alcohol after "explaining the risks," except alcohol is safer than multiple concussions. Even if you explain to a teen that they can develop lifelong alcohol addiction and damage their liver, they still do not have the ability to make an informed decision. "My parents told me about the risks and gave me permission to binge drink if I want to" is not a policy I'd trust.

              I do not understand why we continue to allow full contact football when it so it's so dangerous to the players, especially children.