A University of Minnesota doctor says removing football from the nation’s schools would reduce pressure on children to engage in a sport riddled with concussions. Dr. Steven Miles says across the country anywhere from five to 20 percent of players suffer concussions each season. “In the school environment there are special types of pressures that shape the choice for football. Furthermore in looking at the consent forms that school football is using they really don’t convey the information,” Dr. Miles told AM 1170 WFDL’s Between the Lines program. “One of them, for example, says that everything in life has risks. That is a ridiculous statement.” Dr. Miles says schools should teach the kinds of physical activities that are part of a long term program of physical fitness. Dr. Miles also says its unclear whether all of the new information about head injuries and safety protocol implemented in recent years has made the sport safer. “In one sense the players are better trained, but that means they’re running faster, hitting harder and they weigh much more. On the other hand we have new equipment, although some people argue the new equipment encourages harder hits.”
