There have been a lot of calls by liberals to ban American football lately. Some advocate a complete and total ban on the sport, whereas others are only advocating for banning it in high schools and colleges (for now). The reason for these proposed liberal bans is supposedly because the sport is "too dangerous" and that people are incapable of making decisions for themselves, so the government has to make decisions for them. What makes football dangerous, you ask?
What makes this sport so "dangerous" (at least from a liberal perspective), you ask? The primary injury in football is concussions, however there are other injuries as it is a full-contact sport. There is also some controversy with some of the painkillers that doctors prescribe to football players, at least one of which can cause permanent damage if abused.
Needless to say, many are opposed to these proposed bans and government regulations. I do not believe we should sacrifice American culture just to satisfy the whims of statist liberals. There is nothing we can change about the sport that will make it safer, not without fundamentally changing the sport in it's entirety anyway. In addition, even in the most far-left European countries, they still allow rugby, which is far-more "dangerous" than American football. The leftists always talk about wanting to transform America into a Europe 2.0, yet not even the Europeans have gone so far as to enact such laws.
Here are a few reasons I believe we shouldn't ban football in high school; many of the same points can be levied towards bans on professional and college football:
1. The players choose to play the game of their own free will and their parents also have to approve allowing them to play.
2. It teaches the players valuable lessons in responsibility and team-work. It also teaches them strategic planning (how to formulate strategies).
3. It encourages students to do well in school, seeing how they will be no longer allowed to play sports if they are in trouble.
4. It provides students with an outlet to receive scholarships to colleges that they may not otherwise be able to attend.
5. At school sports are regulated in a safe environment, with players given safety equipment and required to follow rules. If we banned football, the children would just play it outside of school, without safety equipment, rules and medical staff standing by.
6. It teaches students about American culture and instills a sense of patriotism.
Do you believe that football should be banned and/or heavily regulated (by the government)? If you do support such a ban, why do you support it? And do you believe that people should not be allowed to make "dangerous" decisions?