Pearn J
Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Royal Children's Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
J Paediatr Child Health. 1998 Aug;34(4):311-3. doi: 10.1046/j.1440-1754.1998.00231.x.
Boxing remains a popular spectator sport, success in which is achieved by the promotion of boxing in the childhood years. Despite the failure to ban boxing generally, there remains the realistic expectation that organised boxing by children below the age of consent (appropriately 16 years) is still achievable. There are two reasons for banning children under the age of 16 years from boxing. The first is that children have little awareness of risk, specifically the risk of chronic encephalopathy, which develops only after a lag period measured in decades or more. The second is that there is no place in contemporary society for a youth sport which has, as its primary goal, the infliction of acute brain damage on an opponent. This paper analyses the medical and ethico-social issues implicit in this subject. Boxing, in historical perspective, has been an altruistic amateur sport for boys and male youths, and has a proud tradition. But in the context of social evolution, and in current perspective to prevent exploitation of underprivileged youths, the time has come for an absolute ban on underage boxing. Such is achievable even if adult boxing remains an Olympic and television sport for some time to come.
拳击仍然是一项广受欢迎的观赏性运动，在童年时期对拳击的推广能带来这项运动的成功。尽管总体上未能禁止拳击运动，但人们仍切实期望禁止未达法定年龄（通常为16岁）的儿童进行有组织的拳击活动仍是可行的。禁止16岁以下儿童拳击有两个原因。其一，儿童对风险几乎没有认知，尤其是慢性脑病的风险，这种风险要经过数十年或更长时间的滞后才会显现。其二，在当代社会，一项以对对手造成急性脑损伤为主要目标的青少年运动毫无立足之地。本文分析了该主题中隐含的医学和伦理社会问题。从历史角度看，拳击一直是一项面向男孩和青年男性的利他性业余运动，有着引以为傲的传统。但从社会演变的背景以及当前防止弱势群体青少年受剥削的角度来看，现在是时候绝对禁止未成年人拳击了。即便成人拳击在未来一段时间内仍是奥运会项目和电视转播运动，这一点也是可以实现的。
