High School Athletes on Steroids?
Should all high school athletes be subject to mandatory drug tests?
Because they are ‘role models’ for the student body at large and should therefore be held to higher standards with respect to drugs and alcohol…
Because steroid use is potentially dangerous and something that must be lessened in all sports, including the high school level…
Because creatine use is considered ‘unethical’ in amateur sports by many people and users need to be ‘uncovered’…
Your thoughts are critical to me… Please leave them below:
– Brian
The term “subject to mandatory drug tests” I would have to say yes. But for whom is the real question? 1) Athletes/teams that make it to state playoffs 2) Percentage of a team that makes it to a state championship 3) or give a coach three challenges (suspected HGH user) within a year. The real issue(s) are not being addressed most coaches don’t keep up with the strength and conditioning industry, most athletes (and others) don’t eat food with nutritional value, most schools don’t provide the athletes with any type of “off-season” conditioning program”, and the biggest thing is most kids today just have no work ethic. Just ask one of them “how many hours a week do they play XBox, PS3 or etc” and “how many hours did you train this week”.
This is the biggest waste of money ever especially here in the state of NJ where it was put into law in the early 2000’s for athletes competing in state championships. I know one of the legislators who pushed for it and if you ever wanted to see a personal agenda on an item this was it. Last time I checked it is not just the winners who use drugs or better yet do we suspect that the winners could only have gotten to the playoffs because of drugs. I was involved in the initial drug testing by the NCAA in the early 80’s and invited it but it was set on the same premise then as NJ is now. What message does that send. Put the money to educate not test. People will use anabolics, regardless but if they are educated about it you have a better chance of making a decision. I know look at educative results for street drugs, alcohol, STD’s and pregnancy. But I look at it as how much worse would these situations be if there was no education?
I really feel we are missing the mark here. Why do we keep using money, as to why we can’t pull this high school drug testing off. Like I said in my earlier post, this feat must be a collaborative effort. Money is not the issue, a little thinking outside the box would aid us in our resolution. Combined, professional sports is a multi million dollar, or maybe even a billion dollar industry, if the right proposal was formulated to get all owners and leagues on board, that would solves this problem. Talking about giving back, do you have any idea what type of media coverage and support these league’s would gain, in involvement in a program like this. With all these professional team and league’s pitching in, the cost would be minimal to get some type of random testing program put together for our high schools. Not to mention if the U.S Olympic got involved some how.
It takes a village, to raise a child into today’s world. If professional sports would take a stand and set an example, this would be all we need to get the ball rolling.
What better way for professional athletes to lead by example. If professional sports endorsed a cause like this,they would benefit 10 fold. In return, I think it would drive even more people to the different sports. If gate attendance and viewership is up wouldn’t that be enough to subsidize a program like this??
The most important thing out of all this is, kids would have professional athletes walking the walk and talking the talk. The sports leuges and owners would take ownership in this whole roll model persona.
Accountability is the key to change…..
Rob,
Kids are educated everyday, but yet very few walk around with a 4.0 We have programs like D.A.R.E and M.A.D.D, wich are great programs but if you catch the 10 o’clock news kids are still involved in drugs and alchool. So that goes to show you that your theory with the education alone would not work, its a band-aid for a much larger problem.
Drugs are a whole different beast within itself, kids think they are invincible, education will help, I agree with you on that. However the drug testing would hold the kids accountable for there actions. Would you rather see a kid get help in high school to address these issues or would you want to wait until he or she is an adult to handle the problem? These test would give parents and the school’s a platform to help and educate these young athletes. I see a lot of people saying that you can tell when a kids are on drugs, if so why do we have millions of kids smoking marijuana and popping pills?? So do you mean to tell me that there parents don’t care if there kids are on drugs. I’d like to have that type of vision, it doesn’t exist. Don’t make me the coach and tell me I should be able to tell if my athletes are on drugs, ( in extreme cases yes but what about the other ones). Education will help but you need testing flat out……… Kids need clear cut decisive lines drawn, no gray area, no excuses “I didn’t know or I thought this”…
My own answer surprises me a bit, but yes — I do think mandatory drug testing should be allowed in those school districts or states that have an opportunity to vote on it. The reason I think it is okay to drug test — of approved by voters not some dictatorial superintendent or rogue legislature — is for the well being of those who are not yet adults.
Schools – coaching staffs etc. spend more time with our kids than we do and are in affect — in loco parentis. That being the case — and knowing how complex a world it is to grow up in now and all the temptations — then it is incumbent upon us to protect our “minor children” from themselves much the way we try to do at home.
Why not do mandatory testing for all students? Well – beyond the cost I would say because there needs to be “just cause” for suspecting the need to test someone. Every child has a right to go to school. Sports are not a right. It is a privilege to be a student athlete and the array of drugs are as myriad in number as the “reasons” for taking them. The only thing I would add is that the testing must be for “all athletes at a particular time in their training cycle,” for suspicions of cause [spelled out clearly by the state athletic association], or at genuinely random times during the year.
I agree with the first poster: zero tolerance. period. The only way to get a handle on the drug abuse situation is for there to be consequences. I also believe that no one under the age of 21 should be allowed a learner’s permit or driver’s license without paying for and submitting to drug testing. Participating in sports and becoming a licensed driver are privledges and both should require the participant to prove he/she is drug-free.
After reading through a number of the responses above, I have to say that Dave Gleason and Morse put it best…let’s figure out how to educate kids and how to educate the coaches/trainers so they can help empower the kids. Not a simple task, but one with far greater rewards than just blanket testing.
Yes, testing would be the right thing to do; however, will it happen I say no. Who will pay for this, the way the educational system is being treated financially, it’s not exactly being treated with respect to our kids future; now here comes another expense that I guess the schools will have to take care of. If the school districts in California can’t afford to pay teachers what they deserve to get paid I don’t see the school district covering the cost to protect our kid’s health. I think as a parent you should be policing this matter; after all the kids we are talking about are still under age. I can tell you this if I had a suspicion of my kid doing anything I would be testing him myself and I would be handing down more of a punishment than any governing body could do to him.
Why do we want to keep giving up our parental rights to the government and the school systems, because we are to lazy and scared to confront our own kids!!! I would not allow the state to test my daughters.
Why should kids who do drugs and drink get the same rewards as kids who have made an effort and stayed clean. drug testing is a perfect fix to the issue
drug testing is wrong
drug testing isnt right if other students dont have to do have one done also
I think it right to give random drug testing on student athtles only if the suspect the students of doing any drugs but if they dont suspect or have and evdince of students doing any drugs then dont have random drug tests!