Catastrophic Brain Injuries at All-Time High in High School Football

Plus, news on college admissions, recess and student loan debt.

  • Share
  • Read Later
Thomas Northcut / Lifesize / Getty Images

Last year, 13 high school football players—the most ever recorded in one year—were left permanently disabled as a result of a football-related brain injury.

According to a new report from the University of North Carolina’s National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research, double digit totals for catastrophic brain injuries among high school football players is new. Between 1984 and 2007, the number of injuries was consistently below 10 each year, until 2008 and 2009 when, each year, 10 players were left permanently disabled. In 2010, the total was down to five, before spiking to 13 last year, despite the recent renewed attention on the dangers of head injuries in football.

To reverse the increase, the study recommends increasing awareness, eliminating helmet-to-helmet contact and teaching safer tackling techniques. Read more from Education Week here.

More education news from the week:

UC Nearly Doubles Non-Resident Admissions in Two Years
Admissions data from the University of California system shows the number of non-Californians accepted comprise 23% of the class. This year, the university admitted 18,846 non-resident students, up from 9,552 in 2010. While its quite the increase, it shouldn’t be too surprising as the university is dealing with steep budget cuts and non-residents pay nearly three times as much tuition as in-state students. Read more here.

Kindergartner Handcuffed
A six-year-old in Georgia was handcuffed by police after she threw a tantrum in the principal’s office. Read more here.

Quote of the week: Showing little empathy for college graduates with record-high debt, Rep. Virginia Foxx, a North Carolinian Republican, said: “I have very little tolerance for people who tell me that they graduate with $200,000 of debt or even $80,000 of debt because there’s no reason for that.” (To be fair, the average student loan debt total at graduation is $27,500.)

Number: 40%
The number of school districts that have eliminated or are working on eliminating recess, despite a growing body of evidence that links physical activity to academic performance. Read more here.

UC Davis Police Chief to Retire
Annette Spicuzza, the police chief who came under fire as a result of the pepper spray incident at UC Davis, has decided to retire. Both Spicuzza and Lt. John Pike, who sprayed a group of sitting student protesters at close range, were suspended while an internal investigation was conducted. The report, issued last week, called the decision to spray students “objectionably unreasonable.” Spicuzza said of her decision, “As the university does not want this incident to be its defining moment, nor do I wish for it to be mine. I believe in order to start the healing process, this chapter of my life must be closed.” Read more here.

Kayla Webley is a Staff Writer at TIME. Find her on Twitter at @kaylawebley, on Facebook or on Google+. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.