Most parents understand the health risks of tackle football for children, but a new poll found significant differences in how Black, Hispanic and white parents of children under 18 view the benefits of the game.
Black and Hispanic parents are nearly twice as likely to see youth football as a path to college scholarships and even to the NFL, the poll found.
The poll, done by Ipsos, showed Black, white and Hispanic parents agree on many of the benefits youth tackle football provides — including making friends, learning teamwork and staying fit.
But the poll showed 23% of white parents of children under 18 see the possibility of a scholarship as one of the game’s biggest benefits. That’s compared to 43% of Black parents and 42% of Hispanic parents.
Thirteen percent of white parents of children under 18 said they see the possibility of playing professionally as one of the biggest benefits to kids playing tackle football. But that percentage is far higher among Black parents (35%) and Hispanic parents (37%).
Mallory Newall, vice president at Ipsos, said that the poll shows parents believe teamwork, commitment and physical fitness are the game’s biggest benefits, but Black and Hispanic parents are more likely to see monetary potential as well.
“We’re in a period where sports are being monetized like never before, both from the perspective of the NIL (allowing college and high school athletes to market their names, images and likenesses) and gambling,” Newall said. “And so I think Black and Hispanic parents have shown that perhaps they’re a bit more attuned to that as a potential benefit.”
The poll, conducted by Ipsos for The Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland, was conducted in November and included interviews with 1,655 Americans. Of those, 876 are parents of children under 18.
The margin of error for participants overall is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points for all parents of children under 18.
The poll found a majority of parents, Black and white, said children should not begin playing tackle football until they are 10 or older.
However, 12% of Black parents of children under 18 said 5 to 7 years old was an appropriate age to begin playing tackle, compared with 5% of white parents and 6% of Hispanic parents.
A significant percentage of parents in the poll would not let children play tackle at all. Twenty-four percent of Hispanic parents said children under 18 should not be allowed to play tackle football, with 21% of white parents agreeing. Among Black parents, 13% said children under 18 should not be allowed to play.
A recent study from the Boston University CTE Center found that playing for 11 years or more increases the chances of developing brain-related problems, including CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), aggressive behaviors, depression and dementia.
Seventy-nine percent of Black parents, 81% of white parents and 77% of Hispanic parents said they believe playing football is dangerous for young people.
Among parents of children who have played sports, 11% of Black parents said their child has had a concussion diagnosed by a medical professional, as compared to 5% of white parents and 6% of Hispanic parents.
Across the board, parents of children under 18 said they are worried about the risks that tackle football presents. Ninety-two percent of all parents said they were concerned that “repeated head impacts can lead to traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and result in long-term problems, including ongoing problems with concentration, memory and headaches.”
The poll suggests there is room for education on the dangers of head injuries that occur during games or in practice. Seventy percent of parents of children under 18 said they did not know that the median number of head impacts each season is eight for youth athletes playing flag or tackle football.
“The poll shows that parents know that playing football can lead to head injuries,” said Johnny Sawyer, research manager at Ipsos. But “once you sort of stray away from that basic fact, there’s not a lot of knowledge out there.”
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Torrence Banks reported this story for the Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland.
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