Department of Social Policy Faculty Adviser: Prof. Diane Schanzenbach, Ph.D.
Opinions in Flux:
An Exploration of the Perceptions of Concussions in Youth Sports by Andrew Wayne Introduction In 2015, it was estimated that over 1.23 million youth ages 6 to 12 regularly participated in tackle football in the United States.1 A dangerous narrative emerges,given that the annual concussion rates among football players ages 5 to 14 are just above 5%.2 Thus, youth football has become a breeding ground for head trauma. While many see football as a particularly contact-intensive and violent sport, concussion-related issues are not limited to football. Indeed, there are many sports played by myriad youth that involve the head as a point of contact, such as rugby, soccer, mixed martial arts, and baseball. Recent statistics indicate that in youth football roughly 3–5% of players per season suffer a concussion — the rates are virtually identical in other sports,
such as soccer, hockey, lacrosse, and flag football.3 In the U.S. alone approximately 1.6 million to 3.8 million sports-related concussions occur each year across all age groups.4 Sports and recreational activities comprise a significant portion of annual concussions; at the high school level alone, organized sports are responsible for over 62,000 concussions annually.5 The proliferation and rampant nature of concussions in youth sporting leagues show that this injury is an issue that reaches far beyond football and professional leagues. The abundance and increasing evidence of risk and both shortand long-term health consequences seen in youth sports raises questions about the decision-making processes that go into enrolling a child in youth sports. The present study asks:
1 Farrey, T. (2016, April 17). Youth football participation increases in 2015; teen involvement down, data shows. Retrieved from http://www.espn.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/15210245/slight-one-year-increase-number-youth-playing-football-data-shows 2 Kurs, L. (2018, December 13). New Findings on Concussion in Football’s Youngest Players. Retrieved from https://pulse.seattlechildrens.org/new-findings-on-concussion-in-footballs-youngest-players/ 3 LaBella, C. (2019, April 01). Youth Tackle Football: Perception and Reality. Retrieved from https://pediatrics.aappublications. org/content/early/2019/03/28/peds.2019-0519 4 Sandel, Natalie & Henry, Luke & French, Jonathan & Lovell, Mark. (2014). Parent Perceptions of Their Adolescent Athlete’s Concussion: A Preliminary Retrospective Study. Applied neuropsychology. Child. 4. 1-6. 10.1080/21622965.2013.850692. 5 Guilmette TJ, Malia LA, McQuiggan MD. Concussion understanding and management among New England high school football coaches. Brain Inj. 2007;21(10):1039-1047.
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