We don’t know anybody who thinks it’s a good thing when, say, a high school football player suffers a concussion during a tackle, or when a high school pitcher is hit by a line drive.
But it was strange when the U.S. House of Representatives’ Education and Labor Committee recently took up the cause of preventing concussions that can occur during high school sporting events. The committee held somber hearings on the subject, hearing stories from athletes who had suffered concussions.
We can scarcely fault members of Congress for any personal concern they have about high scholars who are injured while playing sports. But we are at a loss to find in the Constitution any authority granted to federal lawmakers to address that issue. And if the Constitution does not specifically delegate a power to the federal government, the 10th Amendment plainly reserves that power to the states or to the people.
That is not to ignore the seriousness of some high school sports injuries. But it should be state and local governments — and most importantly, individual parents and coaches — taking the lead to address those injuries.
Congress is already too deeply involved in too many things the Constitution never authorized it to handle. It should not be adding high school sports concussions to its “to-do” list.