Robert C. Cantu, a clinical professor in the department of neurosurgery and a co-director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at the Boston University School of Medicine, is a co-author with Mark Hyman of the new book “Concussions and Our Kids.”

After reading this blog post from a parent blog at Greenwhich Middle School, I could not help but agree with Dr. Cantu from a medical point of view.

It seems to me, many parents do not realize, their children are not just small versions of adults. Fact: children are still growing and their bodies are not strong enough for contact sports until around age 14.

So why do I see so many “little” kids playing soccer all over our town…where many of the parents are in fact doctors…shouldn’t they know better??? I would think so!

Why is it that sports play such an important role in our lives even when the statistics show that injuries in childhood can have long lasting effects later on in life?

Shouldn’t parents be advocating for stricter playing rules for contact sports that are played by children younger than fourteen years old?

How do we as parents and grandparents call for rule changes for contact sports,  given all we now know about sports injuries in childhood?

Concussions are serious and traumatic encephalopathy is not something to be taken lightly.

Even broke bones can be much more serious in childhood because the growth plates can be injured causing a much more complicated healing process.

Schools, sports groups and parents should be aware of the seriousness of contact sports injuries.

Maybe when insurance companies and sports groups realize this is as a new area of  culpability, things will change and kids will not be put at risk. Risks that children, themselves are unaware of…after all if kid’s  parents encourage these sports, they should be safe to play…right???