White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said a “culture” of kids wanting to get back in the game needs to be addressed when assessing how to cut back concussions and other injuries in sports.
“Two hundred and fifty thousand children each year go to the emergency room with sports or related head injuries. And what we’ve got to figure out is the basic research to understand concussions and other head-related issues and then to figure out what we can do to prevent them, identify them and then treat them,” Jarrett told MSNBC this morning.
She previewed today’s “series of announcements of unprecedented magnitude, partnerships between the NCAA and the Defense Department, $30 million funds that are going to be allocated to continue the research and increase awareness.”
“The NFL partnering as well, again to raise awareness. The Center For Disease Control, the National Institute of Health. And it’s not just football. As we know, it’s soccer, it’s cheerleaders. I mean, we’re finding these head-related injuries across the board.”
Jarrett said the administration’s challenge is cutting back on sports injuries while making it “clear that sports is healthy, it’s good, it’s a way of staying active, teaches team sports, leadership skills.”
A clinic on the lawn of the White House also “to show exercises and how we can do this in a safe way” was rained out today.
“So we need to increase our basic research in this field, and that’s what you’ll be hearing about today. And that’s what’s going to help raise awareness so that parents and teachers and coaches and students know how to protect themselves,” Jarrett continued.
“We also know that there’s a culture, particularly with the concussions, of young kids wanting to get back on the field quickly and continuing to play, not following the treatment course once they’ve been diagnosed. And so, raising awareness will help everybody really tackle this issue and ensure that we can have our children be safe.”
Join the conversation as a VIP Member