June 1995, the Supreme Court of the United States passed a law to randomly drug test students involved in extracurricular activities or sports. A voting decision of 6 to 3 set the law into place. In today’s society, teenagers and young adults become victims of drug abuse and addiction. Young student athletes find themselves faced with low self-esteem, peer pressure, and anxiety. Student athletes fill the void in their lives with the illegal use of drugs (including steroids) and alcohol. Should school officials have the authority to randomly administer drug testing on student athletes? 94 School policies enforce drug-free schools. Student athletes randomly get screened for drugs in their systems. Consequently, when random drug testing first occurred in schools, drug testing caused a ruckus. Some parents and students contested the law, but they had no luck. The law enforces ethical standards that live and stand behind the law. O'Connor argues that “testing randomly chosen student athletes for drugs without a suspicion of wrongdoing violates their right to privacy” (O'Connor, Stevens and Souter 1). Ultimately in society, some people agree to new laws and some don’t. Statistically, drug test results improved amongst student athletes. The Student Drug Testing Institute say, “Hunterdon Central Regional High School in New Jersey saw significant reductions in 20 of 28 drug use categories after 2 years of a drug-testing program (e.g., cocaine use by seniors dropped from 13 percent to 4 percent)” (Student Drug-Testing Institute). 144 A good percentage of student athletes lack knowledge of drugs side effects. The Student Drug Testing Institute say, “Even a single use of an intoxicating drug can affect a person's judgment and decision-maki... ... middle of paper ... ...l. Teachers, students, and school administrators noticed the weird way Lil Bobby acts during practice and in class. Lil Bobby’s teacher decides to visit his parents. The teacher realizes that Lil Bobby’s parents seemed high on drugs. The teacher told Lil Bobby’s parents about his demeanor in school, and Lil Bobby’s parents looked at the teacher and shrugged their shoulders. The teacher noticed that Lil Bobby displayed some of the same characteristics that his parents displayed. The next day the teacher took it upon herself to seek help for Lil Bobby. Before Lil Bobby could get some help, he overdosed on some pills he found in his parents room. Lil Bobby almost died, thanks to his teacher who took the initiative to seek help when she noticed a change in one of her student’s behavior. Law makers and school officials ultimate goals reflect positive outcomes.
Taylor, Hopkins. Substance abuse issues to Offending Athletes. Miami: Beachwood Press, pages 35-37. 2009. Print.
Between 1985 and 1989 the Vernonia School District began to see a marked increase in disciplinary problems, drug use by students, athletic injuries, use of drugs by athletes and a student body preoccupation with the drug culture. The school district adopted a policy requiring students who participated in interscholastic athletics to sign a consent of both routine and random drug testing.
Drug use is happening in the NFL and one of the most heavily used drugs is alcohol. This paper will analyze the effects of alcohol on players and discuss what the NFL can do to better combat the problems of alcohol usage and abuse. The NFL Substance Abuse Policy can be tweaked and modified so it more focused on helping the players, rather than disciplining them. In addition, the paper will discuss the sociological issues associated with NFL players abusing alcohol and the negative impacts this deviant behavior has on society.
Marcovitz, Hal. How Serious a Problem Is Drug Use in Sports? San Diego: Reference Point Press, 2013. Print.
The use of illegal substances in sports is a trendy topic in today’s society. In the last few years a copious amount of players have been under the spotlight of substance abuse, which led to a punishment for their actions. Andrew Sullivan wrote an article in the year 2004 called “In a Drugged-up Nation, the Steroid Sports Star is King”, in which he illustrates how these “pharmaceuticals” have revolutionized sports around the world but mostly in America. These drugs have had a large influence in the overall performance of the players, even if it the use of drugs is “often denied or simply overlooked”(Sullivan 1), it will lead to a lack of judgment in what is right and what is wrong.
It's nothing new for the National Football League's players to be abusing anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing drugs. Drug abuse in the league has recently focused around recreational drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and alcohol. The newest drug being abused is painkillers. The commissioner and his personal need to change their policies. Will they wait until many more players start to die before they tighten up their drug policies? The National Football League (NFL) can stop most of these drug problems by having more random drug tests given, enforcing stricter punishments when players are caught using drugs, and requiring every team to educate its players annually on the effects and consequences of all drugs.
“Search and Seizure. Suspicionless Drug Testing. Seventh Circuit Upholds Drug Testing of Student Athletes in Public Schools. Schaill v. Tippecanoe County School Corp., 864 F.2d 1309 (7th Cir. 1988).” Harvard Law Review. 103 (Dec. 1989): 591-597.
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.
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 ...
Many wonder how drugs can influence an athlete's performance in sports. Over the past few years, it has become more known and more common for athletes to use drugs to enhance their performance abilities. It has been becoming more common for athletes to overdose on drugs whether it being intentional or accidental. Many athletes who use performance enhancing drugs do not know the consequences or the damage the drugs can do to their body. Most athletes that use performance enhancing drugs are high school students. They believe that because their favorite professional athletes is using the enhancers that they are able to also. Athletes should be drug tested before every game to help reduce the use of drugs.
Drug testing is a very controversial issue in today society. It causes uproar from the students and the workers across America because they feel that it is an infringement of their rights. I believe that it is an infringement of a person’s right to be tested of drugs just out of the blue and without just cause. I also believe that a person should be tested if they injure themselves or cause an injury to someone else on the job because then the employer is not held accountable or responsible for the damage that the worker might have caused (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, FEB 12, 1995 pA1). For a student, I think that if I student is getting very poor grades, acting up in class, or even skipping school, then, I feel they should be tested for drugs.
An example of an issue with mandatory drug testing was the Vernonia School Dist. 47J v. Acton case. In this case the Vernonia School District, which is located in Oregon, requires any student who wants to participate in activities such as athletics, for example football or basketball, to sign consent forms to allow for random drug testing throughout the particular sports season. One testing is at the beginning of the season and during the season every week the students are placed into a “pool” and 10% of the athletes are chosen for random drug testing. What happened in this case was a student by the name of James Acton wanted to play football for his school but in this school district the student and the par...
Today, drug use in sport has reached enormous proportions in society and is destroying athletics from the ground up. Nowhere is the problem more serious than in professional athletics, where athletes, coaches and trainers misuse drugs in search of ways of ways to improve performance. Many athletes fail to take their time when making the decision whether to use drugs to their advantage. Unfortunately athletes may use drugs for therapeutic indications, recreatio9nal or social reasons, as muscular aids or to mask the presence of other drugs during drug testing. But the safety of the athlete's health is being neglected. 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...
High school students are leaders to younger kids and many others in their community. As a leader these student must show others what good character is like, but instead they are destroying their lives by doing drugs. In the past decade the drug use among high school students is on the rise once again. With the internet, their exposure to drugs is much greater. High school students are convinced that they are able to get away with using drugs. These drug addicts soon influence other students into doing the drugs because there isn’t a rule preventing drug use. In order to protect these student’s future, drug tests must be enforced among all students ensuring a safe environment for students to learn successfully. Allowing random drug testing in high schools will shy away students from trying these harmful drugs. The stop of drug use among high school students is crucial because drugs prevents student from learning leading them to dropping out of high school. Students that become overwhelmed by these harmful drugs will ruin their lives forever, but if steered in the right direction they can be saved.