What is risk?
There are inherent risks that come with children playing sports. However, the important thing for parents to consider when signing their kids up for sports – or maybe not letting them join the football team – is the definition of risk. There is the type of risk involved when we don’t buckle our children into car seats or when teens text and drive. Then there are the types of risks that build character, self-esteem, and increase our children’s abilities to make informed decisions.
How are risks good for kids?
Not all risky behaviors are dangers we should prohibit our children from experiencing. Sports allow children to test and push limits, but also teach them about things that often can’t be taught otherwise. Until they have to use their own strength to pound the basketball court for more than an hour, they don’t know how much stamina they have, or in some cases, how they could benefit from more regular exercise. Laurence Steinberg, a professor of psychology from Temple University in Philadelphia, said in a radio interview that sports are healthy outlets in which children can take risks. They are usually done in environments and situations where extraneous harmful factors are removed (coaches don’t have the kids practice free throws in the street), and the sports can help satisfy the innate needs of children to push boundaries.
What are the most dangerous sports?
While not all sports are created equal when it comes to their risk factors, some of the “most dangerous” sports might surprise you. A study by Loyola University collected data from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and came up with a top ten list of the most dangerous sports for kids.
- Basketball (knee and other joint issues sent more kids to the ER than any other sport – more than 500,000)
- Bicycling (485,669 kids had injuries including concussions, broken bones, and scrapes/bruises)
- Football (the Center for Injury Research and Policy actually reports football at #1)
- Soccer (the goal posts seem to be one of the culprits here)
- Baseball (getting hit with the ball and collision injuries account for many of these)
- Skateboarding (a sport with typically minimal padding and maximum jump heights)
- Trampoline (some might not consider it a sport, but for all of those budding gymnasts this backyard equipment can be dangerous)
- Softball (those boys playing baseball aren’t the only ones who can throw hard and slide into home)
- Swimming and Diving (head and spinal cord injuries are possible, and other obvious risks for beginner swimmers)
- Horseback Riding (being thrown while riding and jumping accounts for many trips to the ER)
If you breathed a sigh of relief because your child’s favorite sport wasn’t on the list, it doesn’t mean there aren’t risks involved. Weightlifting, wrestling, roller skating, volleyball, track, gymnastics, and cheerleading were all some that rounded out those sports accounting for injuries. You also have to take a look at how many children are participating in these sports. The top ten list took raw numbers, meaning that almost 500,000 kids were injured riding bikes, but it didn’t start with a total number of kids who ride their bikes every day without injuries. In actuality, the most dangerous sport is riding all-terrain vehicles, with 740 deaths reported in 2003, 1/3 of those in kids under 16 years of age.
Are the risks worth it?
Yes, our children are at risk when they play these sports. But what is the greater risk if we don’t let them try? Recently my 12 year old sports fiend son met a friend with a passion for mountain biking, one of the few sports my son hasn’t tried. The local ski trails are open in the summer for mountain biking, and my son wanted to give it a try. I dropped him off at the bottom and returned 2 hours later to find a boy overjoyed with the challenges he faced. Did he wipe out? You had better believe it. But I could hear in his voice the pride he took in learning to judge the corners a little better and learning from his friend how to use his center of gravity to control the bike.
Yes, there are risks with sports and I hate to see my children in pain. We have had kids injured from many of those top 10 sports, including a broken finger from wrestling, a broken foot from the horse, a visit to the ER for bike riding with the dog leashed to the handlebars (not recommended), a head hit in baseball (good helmets are a must), a stick to the eye after falling while climbing trees, and more bumps and bruises than I can remember. We can take reasonable precautions, like enforcing helmet rules, to help them safely enjoy these “dangerous” sports. As I re-stock the 1st aid kit, I also let the kids jump off of ramps, play baseball (#6 on that list) 3 nights a week, and take risks. I won’t risk that they grow up living in a bubble and afraid of the world, unable to make decisions and weigh the risks of life.
