On a typical Friday night, in any city across the country, you can hear the band playing the school fight song, the cheerleaders cheering loudly, the parents proudly holding up homemade posters in support of the team and the student body feverishly support their friends. Is there anything that can bring a community closer together than a Friday night high school football game? As the team sprints down the field, one wonders if anyone has considered the fact that head injuries, particularly concussions, have become such a danger in this beloved game throughout the world. 'America. Given the amount of recent research indicating that head injuries can lead to long-term brain diseases, should high schools continue to encourage their students to play contact football? “Parents, coaches and school administrators have been made aware of the dangers of tackling football as it is currently played. Yet they encourage students to participate in a game that is increasingly deemed dangerous. Children are conditioned to accept violence and self-sacrifice as part of the game." (Koller) In a Health Day News survey, Dotinga found that "more than half of the students surveyed ignored their symptoms for fear of harm. not be allowed to play.” Many schools, parents and students make the decision not to play. “Since the onslaught of information about concussions and their effects hit the general public around 2010-2011, there are 21,814 fewer high school players, according to participation data compiled by the National Federation of High School Associations of State (NFHS)." Due to the high risk of head injuries attributed to tackling football, high schools across the United States should stop offering tackling football as an official sport. National Federation of High School Sports. Copyright 2013 Powell, John W. and Kim D. Barber-Foss. “Head Injury in High School Athletes.” Journal of the American Medical Association 282.10 (1999): 958-963. Print. Reed, Ken. “It’s time to ban high school football.” Chicago Tribune August 2012Rowson,Steven. and Stéphane. Duma. : Development of the STAR evaluation system for football helmets: integration of exposure to an impact on the player's head and the risk of concussion. Virginia Tech 2011. Shakir, Hakeem, MD, and Elad. Levy, MD “We must protect our young athletes from brain injury. » The Buffalo News December 2013Smith, Stephanie. “Study Offers Clues to How Athletes' Brain Diseases Start” CNN August 2013 Print.Woods, Mike. “Will head injuries be the death knell for football? Post-Crescent Media November.2013