USA Today: Time To Ban Tackle Football for Children
“I take classes in child abuse recognition every few years in order to maintain my license to practice as a physician,” says Dr. Bennet Omalu, a forensic pathologist whose discovery of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) was portrayed by Will Smith in the movie “Concussion.”
“The fundamental definition of child abuse is the intentional exposure of a child to the risk of injury. That injury does not have to occur.
“We wouldn’t give a child a cigarette to smoke because a cigarette is potentially harmful. But we would put a helmet on the head of a child and send him out on a field to play a game whereby he sustains repeated blows to his head, to suffer sub-concussions and concussions. Which is more dangerous: a cigarette or a concussion of the brain? A concussion of the brain, of course. If that is not the definition of child abuse, what is it?
“When people hear the statement ‘Omalu says playing football is child abuse,’ they become emotional. But when you remove the emotionality, it’s a very objective statement. I’ve not met any parent who disagrees. Some parents will say, ‘Don’t put it like that; that makes me feel bad.’
“We have elevated sports to the level of a religion. We’re in denial of the truth.”
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Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- League of Fans Sports Policy Director Ken Reed quoted in Washington Post column titled "What happened to P.E.? It’s losing ground in our push for academic improvement," by Jay Mathews
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
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