Involvement of Contact Sports by of Age and Gender - Essay Example

There are different types of sports some which involve contact and others which do not involve contact. Each of these games has a share of its benefits as well as challenges to the people who are participating. Over the years, there have been debates regarding whether children under the age of 12 should take part in contact sports. Additionally, there have also been numerous discussions about whether the game rules should be the same for boys and girls. First, it is worth noting contact sports have a high number of reported concussions as compared to the other sports which do not involve contact. Second, there are limited effective treatments that can be offered to people who suffer traumatic brain injury. Brain injury may arise from accidents or sports, in the event that a player falls or is hit on his or her head. Third, children under the age of 12 are likely to suffer concussions as compared to adults. Fourth, girls are usually categorized as a weaker gender and hence are more susceptible during contact sports in that they are likely to suffer a greater extent of injury in case they are hit and also its easy for them to fall once contacted forcefully.

Taking these among other factors into account, most parents across the world have been looking for safer sports for their children. These are games which do not involve too much contact, and hence the chances of getting injured are not very high. It is the objective of every parent to see their children happy and healthy. Sports are part of what gives most young boys and girls happiness and at the same time facilitate a healthy life. Sports are an important part of growth for children. They also help them in their socialization and promote learning on how to work as a team. Therefore, sports are very useful for their health.

In this regard, it is imperative to ensure that their children get enough play, but at the same time, they must make sure that they are safe or they are not at a high risk of getting injured. Over the years, there have been studies aimed at finding out the benefits and the challenges of involving children under the age of 12 in contact sports. While some scholars and researchers support the proposition that children should be involved in contact sports, others are of the opinion that children should only participate in safer sports. On the other hand, the debate on whether the rules should be the same for girls and boys has also been frequent among academicians. For fairness, it is important to have the same regulations for all genders according to some conclusions. However, those who are gender sensitive have insisted that the rules should be different for boys and girls. There have not been conclusive findings regarding what are the best options for children under 12 and the sports rules for boys and girls. There has been a gap of knowledge that still needs further research to cross it. This forms the basis for the research questions that will guide this study.

Research Hypothesis: owing to the high number of concussions and traumatic brain injuries that occur during contact sports, children under the age of 12 should not be involved in contact sports as this would pose physical injury threats. Instead, children should be involved in safer sports which have relatively less contact.

Research Questions

The research questions will be designed in such a manner that they will help in filling the knowledge gap that have existed regarding contact sports for children under the age of 12. As it has been noted earlier, these are children who are likely to suffer more extent of an injury. Their probabilities for getting injured are also high because they may not fully understand the protection and precaution measures for the specific games they are playing. The research questions will aim at indicating the importance of sports for children, but their answers will also offer guidance as to whether children should be involved in contact sports or not. The following will be the research questions for this study;

Do contact sports pose a higher threat for injuries to both children and adults as compared to non- contact sports?

Are children under the age of 12 under a higher risk of getting injured during sports as compared to adults?

Which between the contact sports and non- contact sports should be parents involve their children in based on the health benefits and the risks for each type of games?

Which are the safer sports that children under the age of 12 can be involved in as alternatives to the contact sports?

Should the sports rules for boys and girls be the same