We are a sporting nation – we love to play and to watch others play and compete. We also know the value of sporting activities for our children’s health and for teaching them discipline and teamwork. I remember as a young teen the excitement of stepping onto the field to play in the National Soccer Championships in Nulunbouy Australia. More importantly I remember the sense of satisfaction I felt when I learned that I was one of the eighteen selected from South Australia to represent our State in this national tournament. Engaging in competitive sports contributed significantly to my life and my later accomplishments.
Now I am a parent, a neuropsychologist and a U9 boys soccer coach. As our children grow, my wife and I are confronted with decisions about the sporting and recreational activities that we will allow our children to engage in and the ones that we will not. We will use the desires of our children, our collective wisdom, and the sum of our knowledge and experiences to make the best decisions that we can for our family. As we make these decisions using all of diligence they deserve we will not try of convince ourselves that our children are immune from the risk of serious injury - for we know that there are risks in many of the activities we choose to engage in.
Among the risks associated with sports is concussion and it is every parent’s responsibility to understand concussion and to be able to recognize the symptoms if they occur. Parents also need to know what to do if their child suffers a concussion. Unfortunately, it may not be a simple as going to the ER and getting cleared by the ER doctor. I have heard too many stories of ER physicians telling parents that if they wait a week their child will be fine to return to play. While this may be true for many children, without individual follow up, to assess for the presence of residual symptoms, following this advice may put a child at significant risk.
There are several forces that act upon a parent’s decision making when it comes to activities we choose to allow our children to engage in. There is our own need to experience success through our child’s actions. There is the need to feel that our children are successful in their sporting endeavors. There are the wishes of our children who see sports or TV or just want to be involved in what their peers are doing. There is also peer pressure from other parents – do we want to be the only family on the block whose kids don’t ski competitively? Finally there is inertia - events begin to transpire and we do not have the will or the courage to stop them.
However, as parents we cannot abdicate our responsibility for these important decisions. These decisions become easier as we get to know our family’s risk tolerance and apply it to situations as they arise. If my son decides he wants to play football, my wife and I will judge what we know about the risks involved apply it against our tolerance for risk and make the decision that is right for us. As harsh as it may sound, our son’s desire to play will not be a major deciding factor. He is too young to fully understand all of the risks that may be involved. Whether or not he plays football we will use the decision making process as an opportunity to teach him about the importance of assessing risk when making this type of decision.
For those parents who have made the decision to let their children play and compete the decision making is not over. What do you do if your child suffers a concussion while playing or doing something unrelated, maybe riding his/her bike? When do you allow them to participate in activities that put them at risk for another concussion? We know that if a child suffers a concussion while still not fully recovered from a previous concussion, there can be devastating consequences. Even if nothing as serious as second impact syndrome occurs, the child will take longer to recover and has a greater likelihood of long-term effects.
Being a parent is the greatest thing in the world and while it involves making many difficult decisions, we who have chosen this responsibility do not shirk from doing what we can to make sure our children have the best and safest experiences possible. While the risk of concussion among children in sporting activities is small, it is significant and so we owe to ourselves and our children to be knowledgeable about concussion and to make the best decisions we can about what we allow our to children do.
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