Deacon Thornberry published an article on October 5th, with the headline, “Canadian District Goes to school on Concussions“.
Deacon’s article exemplifies the fact that concussions should be taught to students, for them to become aware of its detrimental side effects and how to deal with them.
I myself believe that the problem could be solved in another way, instead of primarily focusing on educating students about concussions. During my childhood and even to this day, I have always looked up to professional athletes when playing or watching sports. Their image of success is what most, if not all young athletes try to follow to become the best that they can.
Damaged brain activity due to a concussionÂ
For this reason, the solution should be for professional leagues such as the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB and others to continue to develop new rules that prevent concussions for even happening in the first place. If these major leagues begin the movement, then everyone else will follow their footsteps.
The NHL took a great step in this direction introducing the “new rule on head hits designed to curb concussions“, showing positive results according to the study by Toronto researchers. Although I also agree with Deacon’s point on educating students about concussions, I personally believe that enacting new rules in making sports safer should be the first objective in dealing with concussions.
Sources:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/rule-changes-reduce-hockey-head-injuries-study/article5915531/
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=539622
http://blogs.ubc.ca/deaconthornberry/2014/10/05/canadian-district-goes-to-school-on-concussions/