Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
Two members of the California state assembly have proposed banning tackle football for kids until they get to high school.
Earlier this week, we spoke to one of the bill's sponsors, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher. She explained why parents shouldn't be allowed to decide whether their children participate in certain high-risk activities:
"Sometimes, the government does step in and we provide guidance and rules. And I think that that's a necessary part of the government. I know that I can't let my kids get on a bicycle without a helmet, I can't let my six-year-old in the back of my car without a car seat. And so we have these protective measures, in particular with children, because children aren't making these decisions for themselves. They can't. They're not old enough. It's the same thing we've done for smoking and drinking. I think it's time to do it for tackle football."
Bert Esposito is the president of the Southern California Football Coaches Association. He spoke to Take Two's A Martinez about the Save California Football movement, which has come out strongly against the proposal.
"As parents, we all have very good concerns about our children and the safety of our children and we can basically take this whole thing to a whole other level if people allow it to, and outlaw so many things, but I still believe that this is something that has to brought up through the parents and not through government...
I'm a firm believer in seven on seven and flag football but that's not the game that we play. And you're attacking a major part of what this game is..."
The bill that has not been formally introduced yet.