Cuyahoga Falls High School’s administration confirms that they are following all required Ohio concussion policies in light of recent controversy surrounding football and its related injuries.
Dr. Bennet Omalu, made famous by Will Smith’s portrayal of him in the Peter Landesman film Concussion, has been researching the effects of football-related concussions since 2002. In 2015, he wrote a New York Times op-ed titled, “Don’t Let Kids Play Football.” The article advised parents to resist allowing their children onto football teams for concerns over serious brain injuries.
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| CFHS Principal Allison Bogdan |
When asked about her opinion of the doctor’s recommendation, CFHS principal Allison Bogdan, a self-proclaimed football lover, responded, “I appreciate these types of articles although it’s one article, it’s one view… there’s things that any educated person needs to do to see both sides.”
On that other side is one of Dr. Omalu’s colleagues who was also featured in Concussion, Dr. Julian Bailes. Dr. Bailes believes the updates made to football safety since 2009 will stifle, if not eliminate the risk of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease caused by repetitive brain trauma, for football players.
"If kids understand this is a collision sport and it‘s what they want to play, I think they should enjoy the many, many benefits from this sport - just as I think they should enjoy playing soccer or hockey, which also come with risk of concussion," Dr. Bailes told the L.A. Times.
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| Cuyahoga Falls Board of Education President Karen Schofield |
“Whether or not I think that young children should engage in [football] is really something I have to set aside,” said Karen Schofield, the Cuyahoga Falls Board of Education President. “My obligation is to uphold the policies and laws of the state of Ohio and that includes the Ohio High School Athletic Association… There are experts out there, folks who work with the athletes, medical professionals… who design policies that each of the school districts [are] required to uphold.”
CFHS follows the concussion protocols set in place by the Ohio High School Athletic Association and the Ohio Department of Health. These protocols encourage parents to look out for signs of concussions in their children such as momentary losses in consciousness or sudden forgetfulness, as well as lay out the procedures for what to do after someone has been concussed.
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| CFHS Athletic Director Tom DiFrancesco |
Athletic Director Tom DiFrancesco made sure to specify the “proactive” nature of the CFHS athletic program and noted their recent partnership with Summa Health.
“We’re fortunate to have that partnership with SUMMA, having a doctor here," said Mr. DiFrancesco. "Every Tuesday he comes in and checks our kids.”
Like Dr. Bailes, Mr. DiFrancesco, Ms. Bogdan and Ms. Schofield all agreed that with the right training and equipment, football-instigated head trauma will not be an issue for the high school, as long as the high school is involved.
“We have the right folks on the sidelines, the right coaches with the right training, our equipment’s been checked and is of the quality,” said Ms. Schofield. “We can ensure those things because we’re supporting that particular sport for our school district. What we can’t control is everything else that’s out there like the hand-me-down equipment and so on.”
Mr. DiFrancesco confirmed that they do have one student, a cheerleader, who has been under concussion protocol for a year now. She will not be allowed to perform with the team until a physician has declared her well enough to participate. The administrators also said that more student athletes on the girls’ soccer team have received concussions than those on the football team in recent memory.
None of the three administrators could recall an instance of a parent or community member expressing concern over football safety in the school district within the past few years.
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What I learned: To say this assignment was frustrating would be a massive understatement. This came down to the sheer number of times I had to pester various administrators even for a simple phone call, much less a conversation on Skype. At one point, a Skype call with the principal was cancelled just a few hours in advance and then followed by a week of silence. I'm betting the only reason the board president got in touch with me was because the note she had received from the superintendent's secretary mentioned a "class project."
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| Kent State Journalism Student Jacob Derwin |
At the end of the day, the biggest lesson to take from this assignment is how to be stern. I generally don't like putting extra pressure on people who are already being non-responsive, but sometimes, "I'll just have to report that you aren't talking to me" is necessary to get what you need. This was the case with the public records that took me a month and a half to get ahold of.
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