Chicago City Council is considering an ordinance that would force public schools to prohibit youths who sustain a head injury or who show signs of a concussion from field play.

As Chicago injury attorneys, we applaud the ordinance, which is supported by Finance Chairman Ed Burke and Education Committee Chairman Latasha Thomas. At a public hearing on the matter, the chairman of Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Department of Neurological Surgery, Dr. Hunt Batjer, called the proposed crackdown “an important ordinance.”

Dr. Batjer said that girls’ hockey and soccer posed the greatest risk of concussion. Boys’ football, which many thought was the reason behind support for the ordinance, is third.

That was a surprise because a great deal of recent publicity has focused on injuries resulting from football.

Under the terms of the ordinance, a student showing signs of a concussion must be removed from the field until they obtain a medical clearance to return. Schools that fail to remove a concussed student, either in practice or an actual game, would lose their water and sewer fees exemptions. Currently, schools are exempt from paying these fees.

The challenge will be public education, Alderman Burke acknowledged. Coaches and parents need to understand the seriousness of allowing an injured player to return to the field before their injury has healed sufficiently.