By Jeromy Corrigan

BC Sports

SD 57 taking next step in concussion awareness for student athletes

Sep 28, 2020 | 4:57 PM

As technology has developed over the years, so has the recognition and information surrounding concussions and they are more common than you think.

For School District 57, for more than a year they have been working on implementing a concussion education program for coaches and students in their district to help best protect young minds.

“A concussion can affect you in the classroom and not just in your sport,” stated PGSS Teacher RJay Berra to CKPG.

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Recently in British Columbia, it became mandatory for coaches at BC Secondary Schools to take concussion training. However, for School District 57, prior to this becoming mandatory they had been working on a program of their own to help properly educate students on concussions.

“The curriculum innovation department came to us to ask if we would put together a team to do a learning team grant to put together the resources and spreading the best practices for concussion awareness,” explained Vice Principal of Curriculum & Innovation for SD 57 Rob Lewis.

A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or by a hit to the body that causes the head and brain to move rapidly back and forth.

In previous times, concussions were not taken seriously because it was an injury you couldn’t see.

However, now students are starting to recognize the symptoms of concussions.

“I think it is incredible how much they do recognize now. I know when I was that age or even when I started coaching 5 years ago it was a lot different,” shared Berra.

“When someone got banged up they just thought they had their bell rung and they thought they were okay because they weren’t knocked out. But now you see kids go through the minor steps themselves. They are recognizing it is okay to miss a practice or a game because of a concussion.

Like the injury, SD 57’s concussion education program is going to continue to grow as more information comes out surrounding brain injuries.