Tackling Rugby: What Every Parent Should Know

by Allyson Pollock

Overview

On 29 January 2011, Benjamin Robinson was playing rugby for his school. During the match he sustained a concussion but was not taken off, and was allowed to continue with the game, in which he endured a second impact. When play ended, he collapsed, dying two days later as a result of his injuries.

Every week young children are hospitalized on the playing fields of Britain. Yet the subject is rarely investigated, injury data are not systematically collected, and as a result any real attempt to work out how to make youth rugby safer is flawed. Using meticulous, peer-reviewed research, leading public health specialist Allyson M. Pollock sets out the true risks associated with the sport, raising uncomfortable questions for politicians and the educational authorities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781781686034
Publisher:	Verso Books
Publication date:	10/07/2014
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	160
File size:	534 KB

About the Author

Allyson M. Pollock is Professor of Public Health Research and Policy at Queen Mary, University of London. She set up and directed the Centre for International Public Health Policy at the University of Edinburgh from 2005 to 2011, and prior to that she was Head of the Public Health Policy Unit at UCL and Director of Research and Development at UCL Hospitals NHS Trust. She is the author of NHS plc and coauthor of The New NHS: A Guide. She writes regularly in the Guardian as well as many professional publications.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Play the Ball, Not the Child 1

Part I Foul Play: The Hidden Truth about Rugby Injuries

1 Another Injury, but Not Another Statistic 23

2 Rugby's Web of Interests 34

3 A Pilot Study of Injuries 39

4 Marginalising the Cause of Public Health 46

5 The Indemnity Question 61

6 The Cost of Injuries 70

7 Impossible to Ignore 79

Part II Hospital Pass: Questions for Parents to Ask

1 What Is the Risk of Injury if a Child Plays Rugby? 85

2 How Does the Risk of Injury in Rugby Compare with Other Sports? 98

3 What Kinds of Injury Are Common? 101

4 What Is Concussion and What Effects Can It Have on a Child's Long-Term Health and Academic Progress? 104

5 How Much Time Do Injured Children Lose from School and Sport? 110

6 What Phase of Play Is Most Dangerous? 112

7 Which Is the Most Dangerous Position to Play In? 117

8 What Other Factors Affect the Risk of Injury? 118

9 What Steps Can Be Taken by Children and Schools to Prevent Injuries? 119

10 Will Protective Equipment like Mouth Guards and Head Guards Make a Child Safer? 121

11 Are Injuries a Big Reason for Children Giving Up Rugby? 123

12 What Are the Financial Costs of Rugby Injuries? 125

13 Can a Parent Withhold Consent for Their Child to Play, Especially in Schools Where Rugby Is Compulsory? 125

14 What Questions Should a Parent Put to a School about Its Injury Procedures? 128

15 Where Can Parents Seek Help? 131

16 What Can Be Done to Improve the Monitoring of Injuries In Rugby and Other Sports? 132

Part III Peroration 135

Acknowledgements 143

Appendices 149

Notes 171

Further Reading 206

Index 207

Editorial Reviews

Allyson Pollock is one of the leading public health scientists of her generation ... In this carefully researched book, she confronts us with a hard choice: continue with the unfettered romance of a ‘man’s’ game or adapt it to protect our young.” —Prof. John Ashton, President of the Faculty of Public Health

“Horrifying and empowering, this is an instant classic and essential reading for every parent. Professor Pollock is utterly fearless.” —Max Pemberton, author of The Doctor Will See You Now

From the Publisher