People just don't understand what the real consequences of brain injury are, do they? Brian Reid recently asked readers of his Washington Post column, "On Parenting," whether the growing number of news reports about brain injuries attributed to football had caused them to consider youth football in a new light. Most readers who responded didn't seem too concerned.

To their credit, several readers said they would make that decision after looking at coaches and program styles—steering away from a youth program featuring a highly competitive and gung-ho approach. Others, though, said that they would let their kids decide, or that there is risk in every sport and they wouldn't want to raise a wimpy son. Some of them referred to bad knees or hips from playing football themselves, or having their "bell rung" in sports. But they saw little reason to prohibit participation in contact sports for their children..

We MUST do a better job of explaining the impact of brain injury on families. Too many people believe that brain injury is just a slightly more difficult injury than broken bones. Yet 30,000 school-age kids suffer brain injuries resulting in long term disability in the United States every year. Indeed, not all are attributed to sports—just too many.

Isn't there some talented movie director out there who could make a movie that told the truth about brain injury? If people saw and heard the struggle that kids go through, would they give a little more thought to the sport their own children choose to play.?

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