On Christmas Day, 2015, Will Smith's newest box office smash opened in theaters across America. Adopting a Nigerian accent, Smith portrayed Dr. Bennet Omalu, a forensic pathologist and neuropathologist, who was the first to discover and publish research regarding the discovery of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. The movie raised awareness about the dangers that playing tackle football has on a developing brain. The repeated hits, the continuous trauma, Omalu discovered, could have severe and permanent affects on those who received them over the length of even a short career in competitive football.
Two and a half weeks before the movie hit theaters in the US, Dr. Omalu wrote an op-ed for the New York Times that discussed his findings and made the argument against letting minors play what can be such a dangerous game. Titling his piece, "Don't Let Kids Play Football", Dr. Omalu--now the chief medical examiner of San Joaquin County in California--expresses his desire to stop letting parents and coaches make these decisions for children, given what we now know about the game.
Here at Kent State University, my classmates and I have been attempting to gauge the reaction of local high school principles and school board presidents to see what their reaction to Omalu's New York Times piece are. Do they agree or disagree? Reaching out to over 20 public schools in northeast Ohio, our team had varied success in getting responses from those we tried to contact.
In addition to receiving comment on the op-ed, we also asked each school to provide a copy of its concussion protocol, as well as all forms that football players and their parents must sign before a player is allowed to take the field on behalf of their city.
I reached out to Principle Mike Babics of GlenOak high school in Canton to get his take on Dr. Omalu's piece. For over three weeks messages were left, emails were ignored. It was not until I told Principle Babics that I would be requesting the various forms under Ohio public record law that he responded to me. Even then, he refused to comment on even whether or not he was interested in reading Dr. Omalu's op-ed.
Principal Babics
While it may not come as a surprise to many that a high school principal, whose school's football team plays such an important role in the community, did not want to talk about the dangers of playing the very same game, it is important that we get school administrators to understand the risks that their students are taking when they slap on those shoulder pads.
To me, it is very alarming that Principal Babics was so opposed to even looking at what Dr. Omalu had to say. It is concerning to me that we have people in the position of administrator who would rather blow off a reporter than take the time to read an opinionated editorial written by one of the smartest men alive when it comes to understanding brain trauma.
What I Learned
I had anticipated that it might be difficult to get a principal or school board president to agree with Dr. Omalu's findings, but I certainly did not consider the fact that I would have over 15 emails and phone calls simply ignored. My expectation was to hear something along the lines of, "Of course, we understand the dangers of football, but what the sport brings and the precautions we take to ensure safety make it more than worth while..." Yada, yada, yada. Instead, I was deprived of the opportunity of even discussing these things with a person who should be doing all they can to educate themselves about it.
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