"My husband's family has had a block of season tickets to our local NFL team for the past three generations. I enjoy going to the games because I like the chance for us all to be together as a family (not to mention the indulgence of stadium junk food), but I have little understanding of football. Dear Concussed Kids, I also know that those who play football are at risk of serious brain injuries."
"My husband and I have a 6-year-old son who is sometimes at these games with us. Now he is saying he wants to be just like [insert quarterback's name here] when he grows up, and he's expressed an interest in playing football. I am against this. My husband agrees. We are not willing to put our child at risk of head trauma."
"While little league football in our town is flag football, which is relatively safe, come middle school, he would transition into tackle football. Since we are dead set against that, we feel it would be better not to go down this road. But here's the conundrum: Is continuing to attend games with our son hypocritical? On the one hand, I think so."
A multigenerational season-ticket tradition brings the family together for NFL games despite limited understanding of the sport. A 6-year-old son sometimes attends and now wants to emulate a professional quarterback and play football. Both parents oppose subjecting their child to the risk of head trauma and reject eventual middle-school tackle football. Local youth options include flag football, but the expected transition to tackle raises strong safety concerns. The parents worry that continued game attendance may be hypocritical, could encourage the child's desire to play, and might cause a rift with in-laws if they stop participating in gameday traditions.
Read at Slate Magazine
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