Bishop bill provides concussion education

School athletic programs across the country soon may have more stringent policies on concussion management and education thanks to proposed legislation meant to curtail instances of student-athletes who re-enter games despite showing evidence of head injury.

The bill was reintroduced Wednesday by Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) with support from the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell. If passed, schools will be required to educate students, parents and personnel on concussion safety while taking a more hard-line approach to head injury.

The act is heavily backed, with support from the House Education and Workforce Committee, including the panel's ranking member, George Miller (D-Calif). The American College of Sports Medicine also has signed off on the legislation.

"Concussions are an unfortunate reality of competitive sports from the sandlot to the Super Bowl," said Bishop in a news release. "This legislation will raise awareness of this very prevalent injury among high schoolers, help teachers identify the subtle warning signs of concussion in classroom performance, and provide guidance for parents and coaches on when it is safe for a concussed student-athlete to return to the playing field."

Schools also will be encouraged to sit out athletes if there's any doubt as to whether they have a concussion and will be required to post concussion information on their websites and on school grounds.

The act comes as concussions in student athletics have ascended to national attention. On Sept. 30, in a companion bill to Bishop's, the House voted to set federal guidelines on concussion management, a move that eventually should lead to standardized protocol when it comes to sideline concussion assessment, as well as a benchmark for how soon an athlete can return to action after suffering from a head injury.