There has been fervent debate in the past few years about children playing rugby in schools with the same rules as the professionals. It has been claimed that the high tempo tackling that the kids are subjected to poses a serious risk to their long-term health as they kick up injuries from an early age.
One of the proposals from official bodies concerned with this issue is to introduce a ban on tackling in schools to massively reduce the risk of concussion – which can cause severe problems to those who suffer them later in life. Concussion is a very serious condition indeed as is not to be taken lightly, here are some of the known symptoms and consequences that can occur within a person that has suffered from concussion.
We obviously only want what is best for the children, but rather than pontificate about what side you should take, we are going to give you the for and against of the argument about whether we should ban tackling in rugby from our schools.
Arguments FOR banning tackling in schools
There is a plethora of reports of sporting injuries in children who play rugby, as opposed to those who play sports with less contact; such as football. This is especially worrying as a leading neurologist and concussion expert Dr Stewart says that the reviews that rugby adopts to review whether a play is concussed are “not fit for purpose” – and that’s at the top level. If the players at the top aren’t being given adequate treatment then it goes without saying that schoolchildren will be put at serious risk.
Developing children and teenagers are at a high risk when playing contact sport so it is playing a dangerous game with their long-term health if you continue to allow them to be susceptible to this risk. In an open letter to the government over 90 doctors called upon minsters to change legislation to put a blanket ban on all tackling in schools – this is clear a conscientious issue amongst many medical professionals who do not think this has a place in modern society.
Arguments AGAINST banning tackling in schools
There are those that would argue that banning tackling is schools would do more to increase the risk of players suffering an injury as opposed to preventing it. The argument is that those who will eventually go onto play rugby in later life, where they would be allowed to tackle, would suffer for the fact that they will have been robbed of all the coaching they would receive at an early age about how to tackle – thus making the whole ban completely counterproductive.
Those who learn rugby in schools are influenced by a wealth of good quality coaching, that they may not be privy to after they leave school. So essentially, in banning tackling in schools you are robbing people of proper tackling technique – and increasing the risk of injury later in life anyway.
Where do you stand on this debate? Feel free to comment below and let us know what you think the solution to this problem is.
