Proactive Protocols at Zanesville High School

Zanesville High School claims they are being proactive when it comes to the concussion protocol in their school district.

Zanesville High School Football field

Concussions have been recognized as a medical issue since 1928, but in December 2015, Dr. Bennet Omalu published an Op-Ed that explains how football is causing long term damage in high school students. 

With Omalu's study published, what do high school's think of these dangers? Is anything being done about the dangers of concussions happening at a young age?

I was a part of a group of reporters that wanted to answer this question. We were each given a different school district in the state of Ohio and asked to interview the principal and school board president on what they thought of the Op-Ed. We also requested the districts' concussion policies and the paperwork that must be signed by students and parents prior to participating the sport.

The district I was responsible for was Zanesville. I was able to interview the principal, Ms. Laura Tompkins. I was never able to get a hold of School Board President Vicky French. I sent repeated emails, but no one was able to give me a good phone number for her. She was not interviewed.

Laura Tompkins
Zanesville High School Principal

When I asked Tompkins about her opinions on the Op-Ed, she agreed that is was dangerous and worrisome that young children are playing tackle football, but disagreed with Omalu, saying tackle football should begin in middle school. She explained that in the Zanesville area, but not through the schools, tackle football begins for Kindergarten-age children. 

Tompkins is also a parent of two children that play tackle football. She said, "It makes me worrisome, but I believe if the coaching staff is doing what they do best, proper techniques and the way to tackle properly, I think that some of the risk can be minimized."

According to the principal, in recent years the school has taken more "proactive protocols" when it comes to athletic concussions. She said the school has two full-time athletic trainers and a doctor present at all of the football games. In addition, they have student athletes go through concussion protocol and concussion pretesting prior to every season, in order to have data to compare to if an injury occurs. Team-Parent and Conduct meetings are also held to explain the concussion precautions and protocols.

The district website also has links to Ohio's concussion protocol and health information about head injuries.

Tompkins and the athletic trainer, Steve Shroyer, said so far this year, as a school district there have been about eight concussions due to football, soccer and volleyball.

Interview with Laura Tompkins

_________________________________________________________________________

This project opened my eyes to a few different things. 

For example, I did not know how difficult it was to get in contact with people you have no connections with. Like I said above, I was unable to get in contact with the school board president. Over half of our reporters could not get an interview or in contact with their assigned principal. At least 10 of our 17 reporters could not get an interview with the school board presidents. It really takes persistence and time to get what you need for a story.

I also didn't realize how much of an effect concussions have on youth. I knew concussions were bad, but I did not know the extent of it.