Do you have the right legal documents ready for your college student?

If you have a child leaving for college soon, here is one more item to add to your to-do list: Execute an advance directive for health care. Sure, you want your young adult to gradually accept personal responsibility. And surely you want to avoid the dreaded label-helicopter mom. But push the pause button long enough to ensure that if the unmentionable happens and your child becomes incapacitated, you are the one carrying out the health care decisions your child has decided are best for him or her.

Executing a Georgia Advanced Directive for Healthcare authorizes the person designated to carry out the medical decisions on behalf of another person. If your child has not signed this document, and he or she becomes incapacitated, you may need court approval to act on his or her behalf.

This health care directive can be established so that it becomes effective the moment your child signs it, or you your child can specify that it becomes active by a specific event — for instance, if he or she becomes unable to make health care decisions.

Have a young football player? Know the risks.

Football is a great sport, but it can be risky. Since 1997, approximately 50 teen-age players in high school and youth leagues have died or sustained serious head injuries on the field. For every 10,000 games or practices, 11 high school aged or younger players suffer concussions. The rate for college players is about 6.3 for every 10,000.

Why is there a difference? Traditionally, college sports are more closely supervised from a medical standpoint. Especially in recent years as professional players have brought the issue forward in lawsuits.

So what is a parent of a young player to do? The first step is to decide whether you want your child to play football. Some parents have voted “no.” Although thousands of children play the game without long-term harm, many parents don’t believe the risk of serious injury is worth the joy of the game.

If you do choose to let your son (or, occasionally these days, daughter) play, here are some tips to follow:

• Be aware of the quality of medical supervision on the team. School districts across Georgia have increased their vigilance about injuries, but some schools commit more resources to safety than others. Learn if your team is taking all precautions and employing qualified personnel.
• Stay current on developments in equipment. Recently, a brand of popular lacrosse helmets was found to be below standards. You can’t keep up pressure on those governing your child’s sport if you don’t arm yourself with data about safety and equipment.

The topic of concussions is all over the news these days, so there is no excuse for sport’s supervisors not to be aware of their responsibilities. If school or youth league personnel show reckless disregard for safety, then legal action could be justified. Let’s hope it never comes to that. Football is more popular than ever, but it won’t remain so if it becomes intolerably dangerous.