OK, the OP's point about "child abuse" definitely falls into that "political" argument, and to be sure there are a lot of people who lean to the left who no doubt want football, particularly youth football, to go away. The problem, as I see it, goes way deeper than that. PARENTS, regardless of political leanings, are the issue.
First, parents of young kids now, in my own personal observation, are WAY more overprotective and have over inflated views of their kids' ability. They are also way more sensitive to anything that is negative towards their kid. The kids, because of this, have been told since they were wee lads that they were wonderful, could do no wrong and, if something didn't go their way, it was someone else's fault and mommy & daddy would take care of it. In short, they aren't allowed to fail and learn from those failures and when something happens that mommy & daddy don't like, they go after the "offender" and try to punish them/it. They don't want their kid to have to earn his way to anything, they want instant gratification. If they can't get it, they try to punish you for it.
A CLASSIC example - I deal with HS football parents daily in my position with my son's HS. Just yesterday a freshman parent asked about why senior players were being allowed to do something on behalf of the team when the whole team was involved. This same parent had asked in the summer if the JV team would be participating in 7 on 7 games the coach had signed up for. Well, first off, the seniors EARNED the right to take the lead on activities. Especially this group of seniors who are now on their 4th coach in 4 years. Second, 7 on 7's are almost exclusively for varsity, not JV, but the mentality of this parent (and MANY others like them) is that they want their kid to have all the same perks without ever having earned them. Her kid hadn't suited up one day and yet she thought he deserved to play with the big boys in the 7 on 7. I politely explained to her (the first time anyone has, apparently) that the seniors earned these perks. They are the leaders. They paid their dues when they were freshman, sophomores and juniors and watched while seniors all those years lead the team in all kinds of things. The worked their way to that and it gave them something to strive for when they were younger.
I see it all the time. These people don't want to "earn" anything and when their snowflake (I actually used that term many years ago to describe one such kid) can't cut it, they raise hell, blame the coach or, worse, blame the sport.
THAT is what we are seeing now. A whole crop of kids who can't cut it have parents who are upset over it and blame the sport. So, how best to "punish" the sport? Call it child abuse. If little Johnny can't play, no one will.
And that is not to say there aren't definite concerns with head injuries. My son got a concussion in 7th grade football (poor technique and rammed head to head with another kid in an Oklahoma drill) and we worried over his safety ever since. But, the sport is changing and evolving to meet those concerns. Studies are being done, equipment is improving and coaches are teaching techniques that minimize injuries. Still, there is no way to ever completely eliminate them and as long as the game is played, you won't be able to eliminate them.
