Evidence that American football can lead to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), continues to grow. As a result, some parents are opting to sign their sons up for other sports.
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In the 2017-2018 school year, 6.6% fewer high school athletes participated in tackle football than did 8 years before according to the National Federation of State High School Associations.
Many black parents encourage their sons to play football as a way to protect them gang activity. In addition, the sport can be their sole option for securing a college education for their children, an article in the Atlantic said. A recent survey of 50,000 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students found that tackle football is predominantly the domain of black youth.
“This divergence paints a troubling picture of how economic opportunity – or a lack thereof – governs which boys are incentivized to put their body and brain at risk to play. Depending on where families live, and what other options are available to them, they see either a game that is too violent to consider or one that is necessary and important, if risky. Millions of Americans still watch football; NFL ratings were up this season,” Alana Semuels wrote in the article. “That a distinct portion of families won’t let their children play creates a disturbing future for the country’s most popular game.”
“Without a reversal in economic fortunes for poor communities across the country, football could one day become a sport played almost exclusively by black athletes, while still enjoyed by everyone. Black athletes – who already make up the majority of players in the most dangerous on-field positions – would continue to suffer from long-term brain damage, their life cut short by dementia and the scourge of CTE,” she wrote.
Meanwhile, numerous outlets reported that Super Bowl LIII garnered the lowest ratings since 2008.
Psychiatric hospital set to close
In both Kansas and Missouri, a shortage in mental health care has become evident, according to an article in the Kansas City Star. And now the Two Rivers Behavioral Health System, a private psychiatric hospital in southeast Kansas City, Mo., is closing its doors. The result will be a loss of 129 jobs and 105 fewer mental health beds in the city.
Patients currently in the facility will be relocated, and their care will continue. But for those who come after, care will now be tougher to find.
Two Rivers, owned by Pennsylvania-based Universal Health Services, treats children and adults. It had 2,347 discharges in 2017 and almost $28 million in revenue but had a net loss of about $3.4 million. The facility has been under scrutiny in the past two decades over its treatment of patients, with accusations about the bolstering of false memories concerning involvements in satanic cults and the treatment of a convicted sex offender who assaulted another patient. The most recent state inspection showed that Two Rivers had failed to provide a safe environment for six patients who were considered suicide risks. The patients had unsupervised access to the nurses’ station, as well as access to pens that could have been used for stabbing and a charging cord that could have been used for strangulation.
In an interview with the Star, Mark Stringer, director of the Missouri Department of Mental Health, said private psychiatric hospitals like Two Rivers are finding it harder to keep functioning, partly because of nursing shortages. Private facilities are not subsidized like state mental hospitals and are unable to secure staff from other facilities.
“There is a general worry about the availability of psychiatric services for people in crisis; there’s just no doubt about that,” Mr. Stringer said. “The loss of beds certainly hurts.”