I believe that kids under the age of 15 should not play competitive tackle football. This is an important issue because too many kids are getting hurt as a result of tackle football. The facts that football is the sport with the most concussions, getting hit over 300 times can cause serious brain damage for youth, and that most youth football programs don’t have any medical personnel on the sidelines shows that kids should wait until age 15 to play tackle football. There are some arguments that talk about how football is a way to stay in shape and that’s why kids should play football, but the truth is there are So many other ways to stay in is shape. Going on runs (long or short) in your free time and maybe getting a gym membership is a good way to stay in shape and would cost less than football equipment and also the price of a concussion.

Football is the sport that produces the most concussions from players every year. Professional football leagues such as the NFL are gaining more knowledge of how dangerous concussions can be, so much so that former NFL players diagnosed with Parkinson’s or Lou Gehrig's disease in their 30s and 40s could receive up to $5 million from the NFL because of the NFL’s lack of knowledge with concussions when they were players (america.aljazeera.com). Retired NFL players that may have problems in the future because of concussions are getting piece of mind because of the NFL’s statement to pay former concussed players (america.aljazeera.com). Youth football also has the most concussions out of any youth sport, youth players and families are beginning to become afraid of the dangers of concussions. We know this because almost 10% of kids that played youth football dropped out in 2015 because of fear of getting concussions  (america.aljazeera.com).

While playing youth football, kids get hit over 300 times, this can cause serious brain damage to youth players (thepostgame.com). One reason kids get brain damage from playing football is that youth programs and families don’t have the money to purchase safe enough equipment for the players to wear. Serious brain damage comes from getting multiple concussions over a long period of time and If a youth player gets serious brain damage, it may lead to having neurosurgery in the future (nobody wants that). In the past year 122,000 youths between the ages of 10 and 19 went to emergency rooms for nonfatal brain injuries (thepostgame.com). For boys, the top cause was playing football. This brings me into my next topic of youth programs not having any medical personnel on the sidelines.  

When a player gets a concussion, the injury needs to be identified quickly so the injured player can get the best medical care possible. This is a huge issue because most youth football programs don’t have any medical personnel on the sidelines. Players lay on the ground for a long time when they are hurt and their well being often comes down to calling 911 on a cell phone, this could easily be avoided if there was a medical assistant on the sideline (tulsaworld.com). The safest football equipment is not cheap and a lot of families can’t afford to buy the safest pads and helmet to keep their child safe (thepostgame.com). My suggestion to this is to not let your child play football and urge them to play another sport that might not be as expensive.

After reading many articles about the argument of letting kids under age 15 play football I have determined that because football is the sport with the most concussions, getting hit over 300 times can cause serious brain damage for youth, and that most youth football programs don’t have any medical personnel on the sidelines means that kids should wait until age 15 to play tackle football. some people argue that Playing football teaches you how to work with a team and be rewarded (with winning) for hard work, There are so many other sports you can play that teach you how to work with a team, and reward you (with winning) for hard work. If we don’t fix this problem many more youth could be affected by injuries. I hope this essay provided some information that will help you take a position on this argument of if kids under age 15 should play competitive tackle football. 
                               

Works Cited

"NFL Concussion Lawsuit Settled, but No Clear Winner | Al Jazeera America." NFL Concussion Lawsuit Settles. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2015.

Cohen, Jen. "Safety in Youth Football -- Finding Solutions, Not Fault." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 19 May 2015.

US News. U.S.News & World Report, n.d. Web. 19 May 2015.

"End Game: Brain Trauma And The Future Of Youth Football In America."ThePostGame. N.p., 13 Feb. 2012. Web. 19 May 2015.