Research, Academia & Education
Murders, head injuries, and assorted violence -- Is it time to cancel high school football?
by Leslie Madsen Brooks

Last night, 16-year-old Melody Ross, an honors student and track and field athlete, was shot to death at the football game between rival Wilson High School and Long Beach Poly High School in Long Beach, California.  The shooting took place at Wilson High School, which you may be slightly familiar with if you saw the Freedom Writers movie or read Erin Gruwell's The Freedom Writers Diary.  The school serves some of Long Beach's most upscale neighborhoods, but is no stra

nger to violence by students and even, unfortunately, by a teacher or two.  Poly High School, the oldest high school in the district and the alma mater of both Snoop Dogg and, well, me, serves the "inner city" neighborhoods.  Poly High has also had its share of violence; my senior year, I was responsible, for example, for the yearbook's obituary page--and that was 16 years ago.

It's not yet known if the shooters who fired into the post-game crowd were students.  One of Long Beach's newspapers, the Press-Telegram, reported that parents complained about the lack of Long Beach Police Department presence at the game.  The security for the event, according to the Press-Telegram, included three Long Beach Unified School District safety officers, 19 campus security officers from schools across the district, 10 administrators, and 15 teachers. 

Here's a thought: Any high school that needs 37 security personnel plus city police department support at its football games knows it has a problem with violence.  Any high school that has more than three dozen security personnel and still ends up with three young people with gunshot wounds--two men were also wounded--needs to reconsider having football games at all.

Parents know the district has a problem.  In addition to complaining about the absence of LBPD officers, parents worry about violence in Long Beach schools.  The Press-Telegram cited a parent's observation that families have actually moved out of the city to keep their kids out of Long Beach's high schools.

Folks, it's long past time to call off high school football games in Long Beach and in other violent school districts.

In calling for the cancellation of football games at high schools with a recognized pattern of violence, I have undoubtedly raised some readers' hackles.  Some of you will argue, as does Sue Cooley, that football is actually an antidote to violence:

For example, an individual who is involved in the football program at school is less likely to be involved with alcohol and drugs, as this would have a negative effect on one's performance. In the same respect, an individual who is involved in such a program would have less time to become involved in such activities that may lead to violence. The athlete is not left unsupervised after school, as he or she is required to practice and compete on a daily basis. This results in less time to become involved with such negative situations.

In other words, I see high school football as a positive alternative to violence. It offers participants a means of channeling their energy into something positive. Contact sports are not examples of violence. Violence does not occur as a result of competition and hard work.

But I didn't say that we should cancel football--just the games, or at least evening games where it's more difficult to monitor the crowds milling around in the dark outside the stadium.  If football fans get violent, or if games are magnets for violence by non-participants--if high school students (or anyone) is dying, then the games need to go.  The latest incident is not an isolated one; there have been multiple reports of violence at football games, including a brawl at a Los Angeles-area high school that involved 100 students.  The fact is that while schools are getting safer overall, incidents of violence at football games are increasing.

Because let's be honest: Football is violent in multiple ways.  As it is coached and played today, football promotes physical violence on the field that transcends the game play.  Increasingly, football is coming under scrutiny for the long-term head injuries that collisons engender--and not just in NFL and college football, but also in high school games, as NPR reported yesterday. Indeed, Malcolm Gladwell equates football's violence with that of dogfighting. In an online chat following the publication of that article, Gladwell had this to say to a high school football coach:

Both you as a coach—and, as importantly, people like me, who are die-hard football fans—need to consider the possibility that the game is irretrievably harmful. It’s way too early to decide that yet. But I think we have to commit to following what the science tell us—even if it means walking away from a game we love.

In addition, high school football players and wrestlers are far more likely than non-athletes to get into violent altercations.

There are countless school-sponsored extracurricular activities in which teen participants and fans do not die and that do not result in violence.  Schools need to consider new revenue models that will allow them to both bring in the funds that football games have been generating (but only at significant risk of student health and safety) and pay for additional productive and creative activities, including sports that do not promote violence on the field and off.

When teens are threatened by gang violence, parents, police, school administrators, clergy, and others step in to change the contexts in which teens live.  Why aren't we doing the same with the culture of violence perpetuated by football players themselves, by fans at games, and by people outside of the games?  It's time to reconsider our priorities and values.

Your thoughts?

Leslie Madsen-Brooks develops learning experiences for K-12, university, and museum clients. She blogs at The Clutter Museum, Museum Blogging, and is the founder of Eager Mondays, a consultancy providing unconventional professional development.

Submitted by Leslie Madsen Brooks (view blog) on Sat, 10/31/2009 - 8:03pm

Comments

 

Are you serious?

I'm not sure what this trend is today with liberals wanting to "ban" everything that doesn't fit into their idealized world view, but I digress.

Football has been around for a long time, and the violence that's going on at schools now is reflective of society today, not an individual activity or sport.

For the record, there's much more violence at your average soccer game worldwide than at any football game.  And men and boys, guess what, like to knock into each other and play rough.  We women, don't.  That's the difference between the sexes (generally, not all the time).

Banning football, lacrosse, rugby, wrestling or any other activity that is rough or a contact sport isn't going to solve anything.  Addressing why we have a culture that has no restraint or sense of behavior ... could be violence, language, sexual activity etc. ... is probably a more effective and honest topic.

http://twitter.com/tscottsdale09

Submitted by traciscottsdale09 on Sat, 10/31/2009 - 23:33
 

Thanks for your comment

Traci,

I don't understand how your comment about "liberals wanting to ban everything" applies to this post.  I don't want to "ban" anything--I just think high schools need to cancel football games if players' or fans' lives are at risk.  And yes, as you point out, we need to address why we have a culture that lacks restraints on behavior--and I think, as Gladwell points out, understanding the violence of football will play a part in that.

You know what fits into my "idealized world view"?  Football games where people don't die.  High school sports that don't promote serious head injuries that may contribute to memory loss, Alzheimer's, and worse.  I don't think these are unrealistic expectations, and until we figure out how to solve these problems, some school districts need to remove football games and the culture of violence they engender.

Leslie

P.S. One more note on your comment about liberals: I can name far more things that conservatives want to ban than liberals do.  Gay marriage, anyone?  Books about gay families?  The list goes on. . . 

BlogHer Contributing Editor, Research and Academia
My blogs: The Clutter Museum, Museum Blogging, and The Multicultural Toybox

Submitted by Leslie Madsen Brooks on Sun, 11/01/2009 - 09:55
 

Why Punish the Kids?

My heart goes out to Melody Ross's family.  My daughter is a student/athlete, and senior this year and I couldn't imagine how I would survive losing her like that.

I don't think football should be taken away from the kids though.  That's like punishing the good ones for something someone else caused. If safety in the game is an issue, change the rules.  I know in soccer certain slide tackles are illegal because they have a high risk of injury, high school football could certainly look at that and create a safer playing environment.

I believe there are other options in regard to the other violence mentioned.  What about closed games, where only football players, and perhaps their parents were welcome to be in attendance?  That could be monitored via special parking passes or personal carry passes.  Police officers and security could monitor the parking lots and attendees and athletes would have to show their passes in order to be on the premises.  That way the kids can still compete, still have the opportunity for sports scholarships, which many of them need, and would give them a healthy outlet without having to worry so much about the violence of the crowd.

Tracy Morrow Intimacy Specialist http://www.HappyHer.com/Blog

Submitted by HappyHer on Mon, 11/02/2009 - 07:29
 

Good ideas

Tracy,

Your ideas are good ones, and I hope they're implemented--changing the rules, limiting the spectators for games in school districts where there have been violent incidents.

But such changes take time, and in the meantime there will be kids sustaining life-changing and life-threatening head injuries.  Some fans will perpetuate, and others will be victims of, deadly violence.  The culture of football will continue to promote violence by players on and off the field.  More people will be hurt or killed.

And will colleges and professional football allow for rules changes in the high school sport?  Will they still want to recruit those kids whose districts are trying to quash violence?  I hope so, but I doubt it.

I don't buy your argument about students needing football scholarships.  There are many other sports that also offer a path to scholarships at good schools.  In addition, there are many liberal arts colleges that will provide grants to help lower-income students who demonstrate they are intellectually and socially, and not just athletically, ready for college make a college degree a reality.

I think Gladwell's comparison of cockfighting and football is an apt one.  As participants, we're watching birds kill each other or football players attempt to wound each other--for our pleasure.  As players grow ever-larger and gameplay becomes more violent, we need to reconsider the sometimes sadistic pleasure we take from such viewing.  What are we teaching our 14- to 18-year-olds about sports and life when we regularly put them at risk of head injuries as a result of collisions that are central to the game, and what are we teaching their younger siblings who watch the games?

Leslie

BlogHer Contributing Editor, Research and Academia
My blogs: The Clutter Museum, Museum Blogging, and The Multicultural Toybox

Submitted by Leslie Madsen Brooks on Mon, 11/02/2009 - 12:13
 

Thanks Leslie!

Thank you for your feedback.  I agree such changes take time.  With four teen-agers involved in sports I can tell you I've seen more injuries and more ambulances being called to the fields for soccer where in my personal experience, there hasn't been a single incident in years of football that have required surgery or hospitalization. 

I know that those injuries do exist though and feel training in safety and proper equipment is imperative.  Injuries exist in every aspect of life, even sitting at a desk, I believe there are more that suffer from carpal tunnel injuries than football players sustaining life changing head injuries.  But I'm quite sure we aren't going to set any bans about computing anytime in the near future to avoid injuries.

Again, training in safety and using the proper procedures, whether you are cliff diving, playing football, tennis, or just typing at your keyboard is of utmost importance to continued good health and well being.  For example, one of the very first parts of training for young football players is how to properly fit and wear their protective equipment.

As far as college recruiters go, they realize that the difference between high school sports and college sports is vast and I've heard that from a variety of college sports recruiters and college sports coaches.  I believe they would support any rule changes that were made to keep their potential recruits safe without effecting their opportunities for scholarships.

Yes, these kids could go for grants, which is difficult considering the recent upset with the college financial aid fiasco that is still being worked through.  The competition for low income grants is extreme and many students that are "good" students but can't achieve the higher grade point averages get left in the dust when applying for those grants.  There are also other sports, but a football player may not be a very good basketball, baseball, or tennis player.

I would hope we are teaching our children good sportsmanship, discipline and teamwork in any sport they decide to pursue.  The childhood game Red Rover teaches children to collide with one another, without the padding and helmets provided by football, and without the coach or rules I may add, but I still see the neighborhood children happily playing it.  I also hope their younger siblings are seeing us support the older children in healthy and educational ways. 

I may not want my child in Karate, but if that's their hearts desire, I'm going to give them my all as teaching a child to pursue their true heart's desire, along with teaching them morality and integrity. is one of the most valuable parenting skills anyone would hope to attain. 

My child that plays football plays with a good heart and excellent sportsmanship, it's about the touchdown, not the violence.  That's good enough for me.  Frankly I'm much more concerned about allowing them to get behind tons of metal and praying that they'll safely navigate the crazy driving conditions us adults seem to promote with our road rage and lack of attention to speed limits and other driving laws.   But I guess that's a whole other topic!

 

 

 

 

 

Tracy Morrow Intimacy Specialist http://www.HappyHer.com/Blog

Submitted by HappyHer on Mon, 11/02/2009 - 13:21
 

Any problems that a kid has,

Any problems that a kid has, athletes or not, start at home.  If you want to resolve the problem then start there.  Don't blame a sport or activity for the stupidity of the parents.

Submitted by pstanos on Tue, 11/03/2009 - 19:22