The trouble with contact sports.

The key question that this debate raises is over whether contact sports really do glorify violence and do contact sports cause a serious concern for safety of the player? This issue has been substantially fought over by the Medical Board of the UK and others.

At the forefront of this topic is issue concerning safety. Let’s use boxing as an example. The whole point of the sport is to knock the other person out. Surely this is a cause for concern. The injury possibilities that can arise from this are endless – ranging from brain damage to paralysis and to even death, in some extreme cases. These types of sports are merely violent physical contact that is uncivilised, dangerous and brutal.

On the other hand, surely the state should not interfere unless it is excessively dangerous – which it is clearly not as even basic things such as driving, causes more deaths and injuries per year. The participation of contact sports should come down to the individual’s choice. In this case, they should be able to choose the risks they are willing to take as it is far less dangerous than smoking (which is still allowed) and other day-to-day activities such as crossing the road and driving a car!

However, contact sports also glorify violence. We have a duty to protect our younger generation who are at an impressionable age. They will look to their role models and the sports stars they see on television and be influenced by their actions. Watching someone punch the lights out of another person (boxing), jumping on top of each other (rugby) and kicking someone to the ground (kickboxing) isn’t ideal. All this will have a negative impact on our youth. Consequently, this will lead to an increase in violence effecting society as a hole.

In contrast, it is logically flawed to say that these sports glorify violence. In the 19^th century, sports were more violent; however, children were less violent than now. In the 21^st century, sports are less violent as they are regulated yet still, we have more violent teenagers! This clearly shows that there is no correlation between contact sports and violent teenagers. Violent teenagers are not the result of contact sports but they are influenced by movies, video games and television. Therefore, it is naïve to believe that contact sports such as rugby, boxing and kickboxing lead to violence.

In conclusion, I believe that contact sports should not be banned. This decision has been largely influenced by the fact that these sports are not as dangerous as they have been made out. On the grand scheme of things even driving a car is more dangerous as it causes more injuries per year. Contact sports are legitimate because it doesn’t have a negative impact on the youth, it doesn’t put players in excessive danger and it doesn’t glorify violence, which have all been established in this discussion.