Samuel Studer
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On Oct 17, a Texas high-school student died after an injury in a football game. The Alto Texas Independent District reported that the student was junior Cam’ron Matthews. This horrific trend haunts high-school athletics programs. According to local news channel KLTV, Matthews shared with teammates that he felt dizzy in the huddle during the game. He then left for the sidelines and collapsed. After waiting 20 minutes for an ambulance, a helicopter was summoned. Matthews would remain in critical condition until his death. No cause of death has yet been reported.

According to the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research at University of North Carolina: In the fall of 2014, five high-school students died after suffering injuries directly related to football. These occurred during competitive games. Another six died from indirect causes, such as heat stroke and heart failure.

This number is staggeringly high for young members of society. Young students should not have to risk their lives playing a sport they enjoy. They should be allowed a safe environment for the activities they choose to participate in.

Organizations such as the Youth Sports Safety Alliance have launched an action plan to try to avoid these situations. This action plans calls on all schools to have a health-care team and creates a bill of rights for students. Every state but Mississippi has passed youth-concussion laws sharing when and how students can return to events.

Yet, is this enough? Students still use old equipment; some of these helmets are not certified by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Schools across the country do not have full-time athletics trainers. Stricter laws must be put in place to protect these students.

For instance, most students get a physical before the season starts, but there is no standard for these exams. There should be standards that are put into place. Another possible solution is ice bath or mist fans that should be available to students in warmer seasons to help prevent heat strokes. Students and staff should also be educated on the importance of safety in high-school sports.

Most of the instances in which students have died were completely avoidable. The sport does not need to be adapted for high-school students. High-school football just needs to be more monitored with stricter regulations by the government. It is important to remember that these necessary changes are expensive. Money must be spent on these students because deaths in an extracurricular high school sport are unacceptable. It should not take a death for a school district to see the benefits of new polices and procedures.

Everyone has mixed reactions on how to feel about this subject. Spectators should feel responsible for these actions, lobbying for change must happen. It is not OK to just sit back and let our youth die from avoidable situations. How would you feel if it was your child lying in the hospital bed? Situations such as the one Matthews faced last weekend need to raise awareness for spectators everywhere. Death is not acceptable in high-school sports: change is necessary.