Obviously, we should all be mindful of the physicality of the game and it's potential long-term effects. With that said, I think there is a bit of a witch hunt against the game.
Where I live you pay a flat fee for the year to play sports like soccer, basketball, baseball, and lacrosse. Football is organized by another organization. My son who is playing Rookie (7-on-7) tackle football also plays soccer. It's once a week on Sundays. They have been out one time so far and in that game I witnessed two kids collide and bump heads going after the ball. They were down for a bit, but eventually seemed to be ok. During the 7 weeks football has been going I haven't seen one head injury. We have played one scrimmage and four games to date. Plus, we have had roughly 15 practices over that time. Sure, some kids have hurt fingers/hands getting stepped on, caught in the pads, banged on a helmet, etc, but I haven't witnessed one violent collision involving the heads in seven weeks. Maybe, we've been fortunate. I don't know. I'd like to think that we're coaching/teaching the kids the best we can and that they are understanding the proper way to tackle and respect the game.
At the youth level are the risks of football really all that much greater than that of soccer, lacrosse, hockey, etc?
For us football will be a year-to-year thing. If my son wants to play and I think he's safe and in a good situation then he can continue.
Also, to be honest with you but at the youth level (4th or 5th grade and younger) the collisions and physicality really aren't that prevalent from what I can see. 99% of the kids just aren't big enough, strong enough, fast enough to create such an impact. Again, based on my experience to date.