Should youth "tackle" (American) football be illegal?

It’s a great question. We should let the science/data guide our policy instead of our feelings. It’s not a subject I really understand beyond reading headlines and summaries of research by journalists who may be doing a poor job of communicating the actual science and are more interested in clicks/views.

I played tackle football in 5th grade through 8th. We hit hard, even at that age. I broke my ulna. I loved playing it though. I’m in the US.

Given the evidence of traumatic brain injury to so many football players, there is no justification for continuing the sport.

The football machine can’t continue at its current level if kids aren’t taught the basic skills before age 18. And putting anyone younger than that to play tackle football is negligent and abusive.

Great question. I believe that the game will eventually decline. Sports of any kind will always have injuries no matter if team or individual performance.
American Football will decline indirectly because parents will make other choices in sports choices for their children. Even with the NFL making changes to have the game became more like Flag football, having less of a pool of talent will shrink the professional business.
US based – NFC Central

Yes. The data is in on that one. Brain injury from this causes insidious, life-long problems that often flies under the radar.

@Blackwater_Park “The data is in on that one.”

Is it really though? There’s hard numbers to indicate the risks are so high that we should ban kids from playing the sport? And to be clear, I’m certain there are cases where there has been severe brain damage from repeated head trauma. My question is whether it’s so common that the only solution is to stop kids from playing. I know hundreds of people who played at least some football in their childhoods and none with brain trauma. There have to be tens of millions of Americans who’ve played football, how many are walking around with brain damage? Is it worse than headers in soccer? the risk of injury/death in horseback riding?

Maybe it clearly is worse, but I’d be surprised if the data is as conclusive as you’re suggesting.

(Also to be clear, I’m not claiming football is safe either. I’m simply saying that I just don’t know)

Many kids may not display obvious brain trauma, but repeated blows to the head will cause brain damage so that the effects build upon themselves. How do we know there’s no brain damage? If Jimmy does poor work in school or has behavioral issues and plays football, unless we test him using an MRI or CT scan we won’t know if he has brain damage and that’s causing the issues or if there’s something different going on. Maybe that’s just the way he is. Or maybe it is mild brain changes that could be prevented or at least stopped by not playing football.

My opinion is that like many other things in life, we should wait until the child is old enough to educate himself and make the decision to take or not take the risk of injuring themselves. I don’t see a whole lot of difference between boxing or cage fighting and football when it comes to developing brains.

The brain stops growing in size by early adolescence, but the teen years are all about fine-tuning how the brain works. The brain finishes developing and maturing in the mid-to-late 20s. However, some studies suggest that the brain continues to develop after childhood and puberty and that it is not fully mature until we are over 30 years old, and even after reaching 40.

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-teen-brain-7-things-to-know
https://neurotray.com/does-the-brain-stop-growing/

I started a thread, at some point, about if Soccer should not be a live spectator sport. In MANY different countries, going to Soocer games is done by mostly males, or adults. Occasionally, there is what I could only describe as overall civil unrest, complete with significant numbers of injuries and/or deaths of the observing crowds.

I have seen people take head damage, in so many different sports.

I agree @Forever_Free , that the youth sports in America determines the talent pool.
I know the start up cost for say soccer vs football, is astronomical.
You can get cleats, shin guards, and a ball, for like $40. I used to work at a couple big box sporting goods stores part time, and they had like a bundle deal for each brand.

To compare. A football helmet, usually starts at $100. Obviously you need all the padding, and worse you will have to keep buying equipment as a child inevitably grows.

I definitely played, since I was like 8 years old. I too know a LOT of former players, at different levels. My old roommate was a college QB.

A LOT of educations, have been gotten through football. Just saying.

It’s hard to look at say a MMA fighter, following a match.
Two mostly naked people, rolling around in blood, using tactics really only meant for self defense. The people who know how to actually fight, are very dangerous people. Just being in the ring you are going into an ancient human interest, of physical competition.

I can certainly say that I have always been aware that I could, and was, risking injury or worse when involved with sports.

I did tear my ACL, MCL, patellar tendon, and meniscus, in my right knee playing football.

I too recall that we played very physically. It was undoubtedly supported. The goal, seemingly was to “make a man outta ya.”
Well. I hated running laps, and practice, but loved playing.
I developed weight room/exercise habits that still are with me.
I focused more on boxing, when I was a teenager. But, I was always physically fit. I guess, sadly, I just practice now and don’t ever play…

There’s something to the physicality, and the different concepts that football introduced to me. I have 2 nephews that play(ed) football. One who never really did, but loved hoops.

I’m pretty undecided.

When they do brain scans on football players, they find this trauma and they find it in young players as well. It is the exception when they don’t find at least some evidence of it.

@smudges I was saying in another thread, that I thought people would ideally choose their own religion “once old enough.”
I confess, the flaw with my logic is that we kind of have to eventually be willing to let them risk themselves.
In a country where you can kill for your government at 18 years old, where is tackle football in the spectrum of encouraged violence?

@Blackwater_Park I don’t dispute any findings. But the issue is not with the authenticity of the evidence.
The issue is, “is the noted damage really from football alone?” I have sustained many injuries in my life. But. I’m pretty actually. Who’s to say that my countless head impacts, outside of football, aren’t to blame for any brain damage I may have? Or my drinking, although I haven’t drank in years now…

It does not matter, football is known to cause these injuries. If people have more on top of it it does not negate the fact that football likely caused most of it.

In a country where you can kill for your government at 18 years old, where is tackle football in the spectrum of encouraged violence?

I didn’t say that was ok either. 18 is too young to be doing many things, but sometime in the past probably when they needed more bodies to fight wars with, someone decided in their ignorance that 18 was an adult.

Men, in particular, keep growing after 18 and can continue to grow into their 20s. Mentally, brains reach maturity in their mid-20s and even up to as late as age 30. When I was 18, I would have signed up if needed to go to war. At age 30… probably not.

Additionally to the point of decline is that Soccer was not as big youth sport back in the 70’s as American Football was. It has completely flipped in 40 years. I suspect due to the finding of CTE, it will continue it’s decline.
If you have never read Concussion by Jeanne Marie Laskas, I urge you to.