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Hayden Pehrson
Professor Loreen Bessire
English 1010
9 December 2014
Should High-School Football Be Banned?
High-school football players have been receiving brain trauma after the impact of concussions all over the United States through the years. However, high-school football is a very
popular sport that Americans enjoy playing all across the country. Depending on whether someone has played this sport or not might think differently about this issue. There are many who disagree about the issue of banning high-school football. Then theyre others that would say that
high-school football is a very dangerous sport that should no longer be allowed to play during
young ages. This topic in particular is a difficult issue because high-school football has been
considered a tradition for many years since the sport became the most popular in the United
States. Could high-school football soon come to an end because of this problem? Is there any
equipment these young athletes can use to keep them protected? The following articles I have
found will discuss high-school football and how the contact between the different players can
cause serious harm to their brain.

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Clark, Ernie. "New high school football rule tackles safety; measure penalizes hits to the head."
Bangor Daily News (ME) 22 Mar. 2014: Newspaper Source. Web. 7 Dec. 2014.
The article New high school football rule tackles safety; measure penalizes hits to the
head was written by Ernie Clark for the Bangor Daily News (ME). In this article it talks about

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how the NFHS (Football Rules Committee) has created a rule for targeting other players in
which the player will be penalized as illegal personal contact. This rule is intended for players to
limit contact above the shoulders to reduce the amount of injuries.
This article talks about how football can continue to be played, but to reduce the amount
of hits to the head. It also includes that this rule follows the similar action taken from the National Football League and the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Clark effectively uses
quotes from the director of the NFHS, Bob Colgate. Therefore the reader would believe that
this rule could help reduce the risk of players getting injured.
This article contains good information about keeping high-school football players safer,
and to teach these players proper football. This will be a great source to use about how highschool football can continue to be played, but with more caution. Also this rule will teach these
high-school football players discipline and to play this game clean.

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Fainaru-Wada, Mark, and Steve Fainaru. League of Denial: The NFL, Concussions,
And The Battle For Truth. New York: Crown Pub. 2013. Print.
The book League of Denial written by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru about what
its like to receive a blow to the head in football, and the long term effect football can do to the
brain. This book talks about former NFL players who have been effected from playing football
over the years.
Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru provide evidence from former NFL players and
also The NFL Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee, and how dangerous football can be to the

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brain. There is also many statistics that are used which provide the reader with information about
the danger of the brain in football.
This book has the greatest amount of information than any other source that I have analyzed from this issue. I understand that this is a big issue, but this isnt going to stop these football players from playing the game that they love. This source will teach high-school football
players to make sure theyre completely healed before returning or else there could be problems
later on in their life.

Grand Forks Herald (ND). EDITORIAL: Schools get serious about concussions." 11 Sept
2014: Newspaper Source. Web. 7 Dec. 2014.
The article Editorial: Schools get serious about concussions from Forks Herald (ND)
talks about how coaches, and officials, and others involved in the game understand how to treat
concussions a lot better nowadays. Football programs are working on new ways to handle concussions and the health for these players.
The facts and statistics that are used in this article informs the reader that concussions are
becoming a big deal in high-school football. This article effectively states that football is a risky
sport, but it also says how its no more risky than any other sport. It explains how other sports
have been experiencing just as many concussions as football.
Although this article provides a lot of statistics with concussions in high-school football
players, these football programs are going to make sure that there players are safe. These statistics will be something that these football programs will look at, and will work on ways to reduce these numbers so that football will continue to be played in a safe way.

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Poturalski, Hannah. "Grant expands concussion testing at Fairfield schools." Journal-News, The
(Hamilton, OH) 12 Dec. 2013: Newspaper Source. Web. 8 Dec. 2014.
The article Grant expands concussion testing at Fairfield schools written by Hannah Poturalski is about the concussion testing they use before returning these injured players. These
concussion tests look at several different factors that will show if these high-school football
players have concussions and when they can return.
Poturalskis informs others of how these high-school football players take these tests to
determine if they have a concussion. This is effective to the reader because with these tests, highschool football players will know when theyre ready to return to play again without causing further damage to their brain.
This article will be a great example to why high-school football players can continue to
play without any harm to their brain because of the testing. This will be a great way for coaches
to understand the difference between concussions and getting their bell rung. They will also
know when these players are able to play, and make sure theyre completely healed before returning.

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Reeves, Glenn. "High school in California teaching rugby-style tackling in an attempt to curtail
head injuries." San Jose Mercury News (CA) 22 Oct. 2014: Newspaper Source. Web. 8
Dec. 2014.
The article High school in California teaching rugby-style tackling in an attempt to curtail head injuries written by Glenn Reeves talks about this high-school teaches a proper tackling

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technique that will reduce the number of head injuries. Another great reason to tackle like this is
to support the spine from getting any damage as well.
This article informs high-school football players to keep the head in front of the player
and to hit with the shoulder. The tackling technique is effective to the reader on how to use proper form when tackling and to keep the head protected from any concussions. With the proper
technique used, the game will be a lot safer to play.
I will provide this article in my issue for another point on how to prevent getting concussions in high-school football. This article gives me another opportunity to state my argument
about how there can be a reduced risk in high-school football concussions. Besides working on
new equipment, there are other ways that can be used to prevent concussions from happening.

After reading these articles it has informed me that high-school football can be dangerous
for the brain. I would agree that high-school football can be a risk to play, but I would still say
that depending on how well these head injuries are taken care of, there wont be further problems. If these high-school football players use proper technique while playing this game there
risk of getting concussions will be a lot lower. High-school football programs are creating rules
that will protect the players from receiving any harmful injuries. These high-school football
players are going to play at their own risk, and the sport shouldnt be blamed for the decisions
that they make. It doesnt matter which side you would agree with because there is different reasoning on both sides. I plan on giving the best possible reasoning of why my argument is correct.