Football, baseball, horseback riding, tag or simply playing on the field at school can cause a concussion.
If you don’t want your children to play football, then don’t sign them up.
It’s not your place to tell other parents what to allow their children to participate in so please don’t insinuate yourself into our decisions regarding school activities, especially if your children have graduated out of the school system.
Both of my school age children have suffered concussions.
My daughter, now 12, was thrown from a pony at the age of 9.
The fall was one of the scariest moments of my life. She lost consciousness for several very long seconds.
She was groggy when she came to and took a few more seconds to regain her senses.
The first thing she wanted to do was get right back on that pony and complete her course of jumps versus spending many hours at the E.R.
My son, 10, is a 2nd degree black belt in Taekwondo. He is also a member of the demonstration team that performs regularly.
They do incredibly high jumps, flips, kicks, board breaking and other risky and difficult skills that dazzle and entertain.
He also participates and competes in sparring which for those of you that didn’t watch this sport in the summer Olympics, maximum points are achieved by kicking your opponent in the head.
As in football, they wear full protective gear including helmets.
The sport is heavily regulated, the referees and coaches take great precautions to keep their students as safe as possible.
That being said, my son has also suffered a concussion.
But it was not while participating in Taekwondo. It was simply playing on the playground.
He and another boy accidentally bumped into each other and my son lost his balance and hit his head.
In both instances we took our children to the E.R. immediately, followed up with concussion specialists in neurology, and then followed a very lengthy health protocol which included monitoring by a neurologist, pediatrician and the schools nurse before they could resume full activity.
This time was agonizing for both my very active children who absolutely love the sports that they chose, but it was absolutely necessary for their health and wellbeing in the future.
While I still hold my breath each and every time my daughter jumps a rail or has a refusal by an uncooperative horse, or my son takes a hard fall or a strategically executed kick to the head, I would never deny either of them participation in the sports that they love and have chosen on their own nor do you have that right.
One last pet peeve of mine, if you want to give a public quote, sign your name to it!
You are conveying a terrible lesson to our children by hiding your identity from your OWN opinion.
Anonymous tirades are a half step above gossip.
Proudly the author of this piece,
Denise Emma Adam,
proud parent of Ariel and Zachary, two amazing and dedicated athletes and high academic achievers.
Port Washington
