EDUCATION & ADVOCACY
Stop Hitting Kids in the Head
Head hits ruin lives.
Mac Parkman suffered several concussions throughout his youth sports career wrestling and playing football. He developed depression and died by suicide in September 2020 at age 17. His family hopes you take a moment to read his story and agree we need to Stop Hitting Kids in the Head.
The consequences can be catastrophic.
A single concussion can change the course of a child’s life. Repetitive head impacts children receive playing contact sports can cause CTE and derail their future. By eliminating repetitive head impacts in youth sports, we can prevent both.
- Head hits cause concussions
- Children playing sports suffer millions of concussions each year, which can cause life-long mental health disorders.
- After a concussion, children are 40% more likely to develop new mental health disorders, require psychiatric hospitalization, and engage in self-harm than children with non-concussive injuries.
- Individuals with a history of concussion are twice as likely to die by suicide.
- Children playing sports suffer millions of concussions each year, which can cause life-long mental health disorders.
- Head hits cause CTE
- CTE is a degenerative brain disease that can cause problems with mental health, sleep, cognition. Advanced CTE frequently causes dementia. Research is clear - the more repetitive head impacts you receive, the higher your risk for CTE
DuQuan Myers started playing tackle football in 6th grade and continued dominating in the sport he loved throughout high school. He did not go on to play in college, but in his 20s he started struggling with behavioral symptoms of CTE. He died by suicide at age 26 and was later diagnosed with stage 1 CTE. His mom wants all parents to know the risks of youth contact sports, and hopes her son's story will help convince everyone to Stop Hitting Kids in the Head.
How do we stop it?
Our goal is to convince every sport to eliminate repetitive head impacts under the age of 14 by 2026 so we can eradicate new cases of CTE.
We've already made progress. But we still have work to do.
Here's a look at the global landscape of youth sports regulations:
Want to join the fight?