Should Youth Football Be Banned?

            There’s a proposal in one community to ban high school football. In Dover, New Hampshire there’s concern over the repeated number of head traumas sustained by the players. According to CNN.com, Dr. Paul Butler, a retired surgeon and a Dover school board member, said football is the only game in his opinion that uses the head as a battering ram repeatedly during games and practice. Additionally, he cited studies on the long-term effects of concussions.

            It is a fact that football players sustain head injuries. Often times the concussions are undetected and happen repeatedly. However, is banning the sport at the high school level the right way to go? A law like that is likely to upset many parents and students. It is hard to believe that we have exhausted all safety options for youth football equipment. Officials could also look into new rules that are meant to discourage practices that often lead to head injuries. Furthermore, if high school football is banned, teens will not stop playing. New club teams will pop up in the place of the high school team. The club teams could even end up having fewer regulations that once protected the children. I am not in favor of a ban on high school football. It seems like an extreme attempt to quell the number of concussions among teens; there are many alternatives that should be explored first.