As high school coaches and administrators learn more about the long-term effects of concussions on the human brain, they are taking them more seriously and doing more to make sure that teenage athletes who suffer this form of brain injury are properly treated. This is important, given that concussions are not occasional injuries, especially on the football field. According to an athletic trainer who gave a speech recently at Shoals Hospital in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the typical high school football team suffers at least four concussions per season.

Fortunately, thanks to a new state law passed in August, youth sports concussions are not treated they way they used to be, the trainer said. Before that, players who appear to have suffered a concussion were kept on the sidelines for 20 minutes. If the player seemed alert and did not have a headache, he was sent back into the game. Now, Alabama law requires that prevents a young athlete from playing again until a doctor gives written permission.

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