High School Athletes and Drug Abuse Interesting fact?? Drug abuse has become a big problem lately. In recent years, high schools have started to drug test athletes because of the increase in drug abuse. It states in the article “Doing rises among High Schoolers, but few districts test”, that “About 20 percent of high schools in the U.S. have student drug testing policies”. High school sports used to be about having fun, but now students want to have a more competitive edge. This leads high school athletes to abuse drugs to give them that competitiveness they strive for. The problem in high school sports recently has been that more and more athletes want to become more competitive to impress colleges, parents, competitors, and teammates. …show more content…
What needs to happen first is all student athletes that are abusing drugs need to come clean. Have a good way to discipline the athlete who abused drugs. There is also a need to make sure that current student athletes that don’t abuse drugs and realize the consequences of abusing drugs. Some other qualities that would make for a good solution is finding out the identification of commonly used drugs in the student athletes and high schoolers as well, the discovery of offenders that could lead to drug smugglers, helping the students that abuse drugs get clean, and eliminate peer pressure and influence to use drugs (All you need to know about school drug …show more content…
Make all student athletes take a drug test. This will determine what students have been recently abusing drugs (within the past few months). There are multiple different drug tests that the student athletes can take. They all cost money and the school would have to pay for these drug tests. Also, these drug tests are a little different in outcomes. The three most common are the urine, hairline, and saliva drug tests. According to the article “All you need to know about school drug testing” a urine drug test “can detect drug metabolites above the federal cut off level of 50 nanograms/milliliter (ng/mL). Positive results are subject to a confirmatory test known as gas chromatography or mass spectroscopy (GC/MS)”. In a hairline drug test it can determine a drug history of a ninety day period. Lastly, the saliva drug test can detect up to six types of drugs fast and accurately. Also, students that have been abusing drugs should get the help they need to get off of those
Taylor, Hopkins. Substance abuse issues to Offending Athletes. Miami: Beachwood Press, pages 35-37. 2009. Print.
In American high schools across the country, many people buy, sell, and use drugs. In addition, these people influence everyone around them. On these campuses, some of the people influenced by this illegal activity are sports players. One of the sports most affected is baseball. Doping in baseball is wrong because it ruins baseball's reputation, it negatively influences the athlete's health, and the drugs are bad for young people who hold up athletes as role models.
Marcovitz, Hal. How Serious a Problem Is Drug Use in Sports? San Diego: Reference Point Press, 2013. Print.
Imagine rounding the bases after hitting your 70th home run and setting a new major league record. Slapping your teammatesí hands, you hear cheers progress throughout the sold out stadium. As you acknowledge the crowd further, you hear booing also coming from the standing crowd. Why are they booing? You just set a record! Then you see a small boy pointing at you and yelling. You watch closely and see the word, “Andro” form on his lips.
The number of players abusing drugs in the NFL is increasing every year (www.cbs.sportsline.com). This is concerning because it seems like more and more players each year get caught either using drugs, or being involved in some kind of drug activity. The only drug being used that is on the decline is anabolic steroids. This decline is due to several players in the 1970's and 80's dying before they could see their kids make it to high school. The first player to publicly come clean about being addicted to drugs was Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson. He was a Dallas Cowboys linebacker who played in three Super Bowls. He told the world about his addiction in 1981. He claims that a player using cocaine and marijuana was very uncommon at his rookie season. The more he played, the more drugs he began to take. He claims that since he came clean, the problems have been getting worse. More and more players keep doing drugs even after they hear of players having drug problems. If these...
There are many types of steroids abused by athletes in order to increase their muscle mass and strength. Though steroids have a negative reputation, there are some that can be beneficial to athletes and certain patients. There are types of steroids called corticosteroids that have more medical uses to them and another type called anabolic-androgenic steroids that have a more limited medical use. The anabolic-androgenic are usually the steroids that are being abused by athletes (Bigelow, par.10). The use of steroids goes back to the end of World War II around the 1940’s. Doctors were giving the freed prisoners from the Nazi concentration camps that were at risk of death anabolic-androgenic steroids to help gain back their muscle mass and weight faster. From this knowledge, steroids began to be used by body builders and athletes to get more fit than they already were. It is believed that the abuse of the steroids started in the late 1940’s by weight lifters and bodybuilders, and by the 1950’s, it was spread to the Olympics (Bigelow, par.11). Any type of steroid should not be used if they are only going to be abused by being used in large doses with the intentions of increasing lean muscle mass and strength (Bigelow, par.11). After years of abuse of anabolic-androgenic steroids in the Olympics they were added to the list of banned substances and random testing of athletes were announced to start taking place (Bigelow, par.35).
Abstract: Since the beginning of sports competition, athletes have always looked for some kind of an edge over their competitors. They will do whatever it takes to be one of the elite and that includes injecting supplements into their bodies to make them bigger, stronger, and faster. Steroid use is probably one of the most common drug misuses in sports competition. Athletes found that with anabolic steroids one could become a better athlete twice as fast. Not until 1975 was the drug first banned from Olympic competition because of the health risks it produced. Shortly thereafter, the rest of the sports world did not allow anabolic steroids as well. With the use of steroids no longer permitted athletes began to look for other alternatives. On the rise is two substances called creatine and androstenedione, both of which are sold over the counter. These two performance enhancers have only had minimal testing done on them, excluding the long-term effects, simply because they haven't been around long enough. Creatine and androstenedione have been said to produce results like steroids without the side effects. The truth is they do produce side effects and irregular muscle growth. By banning the use of performance enhancing drugs, just like steroids, sports competition will have a much healthier and fairer environment to participate in.
Mintel. (2013). Teen athletes more likely to drink, less likely to use drugs. Available: http://academic.mintel.com.atlas.worc.ac.uk/sinatra/oxygen_academic/display/id=687169?highlight. Last accessed 4th January 2014.
In many high schools around the country, student athletes are using drugs. “The percent of students that have drunk alcohol is 72.5% while the number of students who have used marijuana is 36.8%” (Report: Nearly Half of High School Students Using Drugs, Alcohol). The students believe that since they are athletes that they do not need to abide by the rules because they feel more superior and that the narcotic will not hurt or affect them. Implementing random drug tests for athletes will create a positive image and not hurt others or themselves. Schools need to have drug tests for student athletes because drugs effect relationships, using drugs have consequences, and lastly they have a major effect on the body.
Some may say that drug testing students is unconstitutional because it is an “invasion of privacy”. This, however, is not true. . . “In 1995, the United States Supreme Court ruled that drug testing for high school athletes was constitutional, and some districts expanded their policies to include middle schools.” I believe allowing schools to drug test athletes was a very positive thing. For many reason, but mainly because athletes who are on drugs have a higher risk of being injured. For example a kid who is on drugs and plays a sporting event has a greater risk of their heart stopping on the field or court. “Drug tests analyze bodily samples such as urine, blood, or hair to detect the presence of legal and illegal drugs.” The most common one is urine testing. I believe urine testing is the best way for high school students, because it does not take as long as some other tests and it is not as costly as other tests. This is especially important because obviously a school does not want to spend money on anything they do not have to. Our school does randomly drug test students every once in a while but only a few of the athletes are chosen to take the test so that really is not helping ...
“A medical dictionary defines a drug as ‘any substance that when taken into the living organism may modify one or more of its functions’” (Newton 12). However, when speaking of drug testing for abuse a person is usually thinking about illegal drugs or drugs that can alter athletic performance in sporting events. Mandatory drug testing was not allowed in public schools until June 2002 when the Supreme Court allowed for public schools to do random drug testing (Carroll 23). This decision allowed for drug testing in all schools throughout the United States not just for athletes but also students who are in any activities within the school, for example clubs and competitive events (Carroll 23). Even though drug testing is now allowed by the Supreme Court many schools do not yet have mandatory drug test policies. Mandatory drug testing for high school athletes should be required because it decreases drug use in schools, is relatively inexpensive, and can prevent drug use and or abuse that can lead to a lifelong addiction.
Just by joining the chess club. (Ingraham) student athletes get into drugs because maybe they just want to be cool and fit in. coaches from large and small school districts have called with concerts about rapidly gaining weight and strength. (Coakley) when athletes take steroids that’s a form of drugs. They find that testing students who participate in extracurricular activates is a reasonably effective.
Drug use has led to an increased number of deaths and suspensions of athletes. Also, if this continues, all athletes someday will have to choose whether to compete at a world-class level and take drugs, or compete at a club level and be clean. In sports, athletes, coaches and trainers will try their best to find a way to reach the top level. They not only search for a way to enhance performance, but most of them have aspiring Olympians to train.... ...
Doping can be strictly defined as the consumption of any substance (whether food or drug) to improve one's performance. This definition can be applied in a variety of situations, from college students drinking coffee in order to stay awake to athletes who take steroids to make them stronger. The problem with doping is where one draws the line. The drugs used in doping often have detrimental effects to one's health, both mental and physical. In the short run these drugs improve one's performance, but in the long run they can kill.
First, when athletes cheat, they are not pushing themselves to achieve success. Cheating also affects the culprit physically, mentally, and emotionally. Doctor Yesalis, a prominent Professor of Health at Pennsylvania State University, states, "You do not need drugs to have a sense of fulfillment, to feel that you've left it all on the field," Yesalis says. "[Drugs have] taken something that God has given us—love of game and sport—and perverted us" (par. 3). Allowing drugs in sports will not prove who is better at the sport we will just see who is the biggest drug user. This is a great integrity check for the individual because it proves who is true to their profession. This also tests their intestinal fortitude to see if they will be man or women enough to do the correct thing.