Would you let your son play football?
Dr. Wilkoff replies: My perspective is colored by being here in Maine, where football is small time and even smaller in our community. One solution, but of course one that wouldn’t fly, is to make football a sport that ends at or just after middle school. It would allow young children to rough house in the context of a fun game protected by equipment before the g-forces that come with puberty create the serious dangers. Well coached and refereed football needn’t be a sport where one of the goals is to injure.]
An honest column
I want to thank you for your column entitled “Your son and football.” I am a pediatric primary care sports physician who runs a sports medicine clinic and a concussion clinic through Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and the Medical College of Wisconsin. I am happy that you wrote about pro football and youth sports honestly – the perceived lack of moral character of many professional athletes and the craziness / win at all costs attitude of some youth coaches (and parents). And the fact that most kids will not become professional athletes. I believe treating kids just like a “collegiate or pro athlete” is a disservice to the child, as they are not at that level of emotional or physical maturity. I like the benefits of football and other contact sports – when taught and coached well, played well, and done under the realistic vision that this is for fun, and you learn life’s lessons and how to compete, win, and lose – not just done to win and earn a scholarship.
Kevin D. Walter, M.D.
Medical College of Wisconsin
Milwaukee
Sports role models
It is too bad Maine, where Dr. Wilkoff lives, does not have a professional sports team; Peyton Manning, the quarterback for the Denver Broncos, is one of the most “admirable role models in the ranks of high-profile athletes.” He is well respected and loved both here and still in the Indianapolis area and in Tennessee, where he played college football. Missy Franklin, a high profile athlete, just finished a day visiting patients at Children’s Hospital of Colorado. It was on the news last night. She is beloved here in Colorado for her smile, enthusiasm, professionalism, kindness, and overall just for being a wonderful person and amazing athlete. Although the high-profile headlines dominate, the acts of kindness and compassion by many athletes at many levels are not covered to the same degree.
It has been shown that high school and college athletes do better than their counterparts in school. My daughter was a swimmer in high school and thus avoided the drug crowd for which her class was known locally. I hope Dr. Wilkoff’s son learns the same lessons so many athletes learn in competition: teamwork, hard work, meeting and exceeding goals, and learning to deal with disappointment and victory – lessons that are hard to learn in the classroom. He will be a better person for that.
Stephen Fries, M.D.
Boulder, Colo.
Dr. Wilkoff responds: I agree there are still some shining stars in pro sports, but it seems to me that they are badly overshadowed by the bad apples. That may simply be a function of media exposure, but that’s what the kids see. My son was and still is at age 39 a hockey player and a fine young man in some part because of his athletic past.
