Talawanda High School principal hopes kids focus more on academics than sports

Talawanda High School principal hopes kids focus more on academics than sports

Put “Talawanda High School” in your Facebook search box; you will see all public posts about this school in rural, southwestern Ohio. But most of the posts, especially from individuals, are about sports. There are videos about football games, photos of girls holding soccer balls in their arms and words from parents about the excitement watching their kids’ games. You can hardly find a post about students' courses or any academic achievements.

Photo: Talawanda High School
Source: https://talawanda.org/ths

“It would be my desire that kids concentrate more on being good students academically and going to colleges based on their academic accomplishments as opposed to their athletic accomplishments,” said Tom York, the principal of Talawanda High School. “But parents don’t see it that way.”

What parents want is to let their kids involved in sports, get scholarships from universities, play footballs in universities, then go to NFL and make millions of dollars, said York. “The real truth of matter is that’s not gonna happen.”

What parents might not see is that “repetitive blows to the head in high-impact contact sports like football, ice hockey, mixed martial arts and boxing place athletes at risk of permanent brain damage,” according to an opinion piece published in New York Times, written by a neurosurgeon, Dr. Bennet Omalu.

Photo: Tom York
Source: Tom York

Omalu recommends not to let kids play football. “Our children are minors who have not reached the age of consent,” writes Omalu. “We should at least wait for our children to grow up, be provided with the information and education on the risk of play, and let them make their own decisions.”

York was requested to read this Op-ed, together with principals and board presidents from 17 high schools around Ohio. Only six principals and three presidents agreed to make comments.

“I won’t recommend that we stop playing football,” said York. “I think that with appropriate instruction and techniques that keep kids safe can get better.”

In Talawanda High School, all athletes and parents/guardians should sign on the Ohio Department of Health Concussion Information Sheet to indicate that they have understood the signs and symptoms of a concussion. Before students play football, both student and parent/guardian need to sign another form called Preparticipation Physical Evaluation, made by Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHHAA), an organization that regulates high school athletics.

For the principal, the technology might not include helmets. “An attempt to make helmets safer... also allows them to become weapons in terms of how they are used,” said York.

“The technology to protect kids has created a false sense of protection that’s not there,” York said. “I played football in high school and college, from my generation the helmet technology was such that we knew we could not stick our heads into people like what they do today.”

York didn’t think concussions would cause limiting football. Only the high cost of playing football games, the academic needs and students' involvement in other activities could make it happen. 

According to York, the issue of athletic concussion has been discussed at Talawanda Board of Education meeting, in terms of the adoption and following the protocol for training athletes for any sports that concussion could occur.

Photo: Mark Butterfield
Source: https://talawanda.org/boe/members

Talawanda High School relies OSSAA on guidelines about how to operate its programs. The principal has not asked attorneys to come up with any policies and rules. 

Mark Butterflied, the president of school board, has not responded to the interview request sent by either phone call or email. Linda Wendt, the Administrative assistant of the Board of Education, said Butterflied has no office in the board office. 

For more information, please watch the video. 

                 

Video: Tom York on high school football

Source: Hao Hao

Hao Hao
Graduate Student
hhao@kent.edu

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