BOSTON -- New guidelines have been issued to protect young athletes who suffer from concussions.

But as NewsCenter 5's Liz Brunner reported Tuesday, some argue the recommendation will do more harm than good.

When kids get active in sports, a bump on the head can become very serious. In fact, 9 percent of high school athletes suffer from concussions.

"If they play through, they really put themselves at risk for a more devastating head injury, and longer-lasting effects from their concussion," said Caren Harris, a pediatric nurse practitioner with MassGeneral Hospital for Children.

Competitive soccer player Claire Wright was forced to give up the game she loves because of a concussion on the field at the age of 13.

"I got up right away and I kept on playing. And I never told anybody what had happened," said Wright. "Academically, I couldn't read and I couldn't do math."

It's those devastating side effects that prompted a panel of top neurologists to issue new, strict guidelines for young athletes. Those guidelines were issued in the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine last month.

"They explicitly say that any athlete under the age of 18, if they sustain a head injury during a game, should be pulled out and not return to play that same day," Harris said.

Harris started up the the Pediatric Trauma Clinic at MassGeneral Hospital for Children, where she evaluates patients with head injuries.

"It's an excellent guideline, because what that does is allow medical evaluation to make sure that child is safe to return to play," she said.

Some argue the guidelines will only force athletes to hide their injuries more than they already do, so they can keep playing. But Harris doesn't see it that way.

"Concussion is something we can't measure. We can't see it. We can't test for it. And what we rely upon is honest information from the athlete themselves," she said.