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Do Now
Should professional and amateur sports have stricter rules to prevent injuries like concussions? Why or why not? Please provide a suggestion that could tackle this issue.
Introduction
Concussions are not rare occurrences in contact sports, such as football. And this is not only for the pros, but for college, high school and even younger athletes. An article in the New York Times reports that half of all high school football players have had at least one concussion and 35 percent have had two or more. With about 1.3 million high school football players in the U.S., that adds up to a lot of concussions.
A concussion is an injury to the brain, caused by a traumatic blow to the head, or rapid acceleration and deceleration of the head, often from a hit. Concussions can be hard to diagnose because a doctor can't "see" a concussion like an x-ray can show a broken bone. Doctors have had to rely on patients reporting symptoms, which include loss of consciousness, loss of memory, difficulty thinking or concentrating, dizziness, headaches and nausea. For most people, recovery from a concussion happens in 7-10 days, but, for others, some symptoms can last months or years. For youth, concussions may be especially damaging because their brains are still developing. And scientists believe that there are cumulative long-term effects from enduring multiple concussions.
