Athletes Zero Tolerance Research Paper

Would you want your whole career ruined due to a mistake? Professional athletes more than likely label as the “Golden Children” and are expected to never do anything wrong. These athletes are the one’s little kids and young athletes look up to and aspire to be. One mistake and this can all go away. Everyone makes mistakes, but professional athletes take the fall harder due to their fame and fortune. Although professional athletes are in the public eye, their career should not be ruined due to crimes people commit every day because, underneath all the fame and fortune, they are just regular people.

One question raised when analyzing reasons for the rising number of crimes being committed by athletes

Many people believe that professional athletes are “above the law”. In reality, they are human beings like you and me who, no matter what the circumstances, can and will be charged like an average person. The offense of the crime can certainly come into play on whether or not a professional athlete who commits a crime should be allowed to play again.

Professional athletes are always under the pump, either if they are on the field or out in their social life, we are they to see it, to give them judgement with every life choice. So when an athlete commitment a crime they are the centre of the news and papers, they are always looked at and face so much pressure to keep these perfect statues, which no one is and impossible to do. So when they do commit a crime the lights are on them and never get a fair go because we think just because their famous that they should be punished hardly because “they are role models of this generation”, “shame on them”. Athletes are working 10+ hours a day to keep fit, training their whole life and are on a strict diet, making them not different then everyone else so this should give leeway with punishment because they work 10x harder than a normal person and are more advance then most. Why should professional athletes be treated the same then normal people when they are nobody’s in life where athletes have made something of them self’s and have worked hard to get where they are.

Is that the future athletes are ruining their athletic career before they are even out of college. In 2010 The University of Waterloo was having their football team investigated for the use of sport enhancing steroids. This all came about after the Warriors wide receiver Nathan Zettler was taken into custody by Waterloo regional police for selling and taking steroids. After this devastating event the University of Waterloo's whole football team was ordered to be tested for drug use. When the Canadian Center for Ethics in sport conducted the testing found something was would sure let the whole team down. The Canadian Center of Ethics in sport found are investigating nine athletes. These nine include three positive tests, one who declined drug testing and four admissions of use. The three athletes who tested positive for Illegal performance enhancing drugs are. Nathan Zettler who was in his final year at Waterloo. Zettler's position was wide receiver and was suspended for four years. Jordan Meredith was in his second year at Waterloo and plaid linebacker. Meredith was suspended for two years. Then finally the third player of the Warriors was Joe Surgenor who played linebacker as well and was in his first year at Waterloo, he was also suspended for two years. The Canadian Center of Ethics in sports came to a decision to

The court system may have allowed many of these players to walk away from very serious crimes with inadequate punishment while the NFL’s response did little to discourage criminal behavior. Because of this, the first part of the solution lies with the judicial system to begin holding players accountable to the same standards as the average American citizen. Michael Vick served just a year and a half behind bars in a state that routinely sentences individuals to five-year terms for the same crime (Humane Society). In the case of O.J. Simpson, a jury of his peers allowed him to walk out of a courtroom a free man despite compelling

Around eight million high school students participate in athletics within the United States, and more than 480,000 will progress to compete as NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) athletes during college. However, a study from ESPN found that male basketball and football players at a major university who were deemed criminal suspects were either not prosecuted, had charges dropped, or never faced charges at all– 56 percent of the time. These players were treated better than others and therefore have an advantage over them, thus is preferential treatment. Many coaches and athletic administrators believe that athletes are treated equally compared to their peers, but that is not true. Athletes receive preferential treatment by receiving higher grades in school along with

Athletes get the dumb jock stereotype because of previous athletes who failed drug tests, got arrested for public intoxication, possession of drugs, and for throwing temper tantrums. Several professional athletes have been in the news for these immature actions. While few college athlete and professional athletes actually get in trouble. While there is over 460,000 college athletes, only 307 got in trouble with the law in 2015, that is less than 1%. In professional athletics, which consists of about 18,000, only 76 got involved with the law; again less than

From a young age athletes are given special rewards and not held to the same standards as

Personal conduct in the NFL, National Football League, is an issue that is starting to spiral out of control. Late September, 2014, “the league [had] suspended at least 20 players for actions including assault, substance abuse and use of performance-enhancing drugs” (White); this was only a few weeks into the regular season of play for the league. The NFL has grown enormously since it was founded on August 20, 1920 in Canton, Ohio. But, this league has become more and more lenient with its players and personnel. Many professional athletes in the NFL receive special treatment regardless of their improper actions, thus allowing them to elude the consequences and in turn setting a misleading example for their young fans. In order

Sports leagues should be responsible for player’s off-field Behavior. An author Brant Webb a family lawyer states in his book Unsportsmanlike Conduct: Curbing the Trend of domestic violence in the National Football league and Major League Baseball. He states in his book that in January 1989 through November of 1994 fifty-six players were accused of domestic violence toward women. Prosecutors and Judges only gave the players slap on the wrist punishment the leagues also gave slap on the wrist punishments as well giving those game suspensions for at least two to three games. The leagues can and have power to exact further punishments for off-field behavior. In individual player contracts disciplinary actions are given to the leagues meaning that the punishments that need to be dealt can be given to me the players even if it's off the field. The leagues can and have power to exact further punishments for off-field behavior. Ray Rice is an example of a pro football player who got a little punishment he sat out two games then he could the leagues disciplinary action wasn't just.

There are many dilemmas that plague sports. Some of those can range from bribing, cheating, racism, and sports safety. In the past the NBA had to deal with the betting scandal involving Tim Donaghy and baseball has had to deal with the issue of performance enhancers. The sports industry generates around half a trillion dollars a year and it has to deal with multiple dilemmas at the youth, college, and professional level. A growing issue with sports has been the number of injuries that athletes have had to deal with. Typical sports injuries range from twisting ankles, blowing out knees, and dislocating shoulders. Surgery and rehabilitation have helped athletes to recover and get them back on the playing field faster

The zero tolerance policy has become a national controversy in regards to the solid proven facts that it criminalizes children and seems to catch kids who have no intention of doing harm. Although, there has been substantial evidence to prove that the policies enforced in many schools have gone far beyond the extreme to convict children of their wrongdoing. The punishments for the act of misconduct have reached a devastating high, and have pointed students in the wrong direction. Despite the opinions of administrators and parents, as well as evidence that zero tolerance policies have deterred violence in many public and private schools, the rules of conviction and punishment are unreasonable and should be modified.

Athletes should not be role models because of the things they do off the court or field. They do way too many bad things that youth hear about which might make them want to follow the same path. According to Gary Sailes in his essay "Professional Athletes: Cultural Icons or Social Anomalies:" 16 players from the 2001 Super Bowl were involved in a crime one way or another. Those crimes range from drunk driving to assault to murder threats. These are things that everyone hears about. A child may not be a fan of a football but sooner or later he/she is going to turn the TV and notice a player going to jail. If athletes are supposed to be role models, going to jail is not a good thing. Society can't say professional athletes should be role

Many people believe that drug use in professional athletics is not a serious problem, however it is more widespread and serious than people think. In professional athletics the use of drugs is looked upon as somewhat of a serious problem, but is also very discrete and low key. Every once in a while one might see a prominent figure in a certain sport being reprimanded for the use of some outlawed drug, however this is just one of the many who happened to get caught. Athletes today seem to find no moral problem with using performance-enhancing drugs, or in other words cheating. Also many of them feel that because they are "stars" there should be no repercussions for their illegal activity.