Drug Testing of High School Students

Background: Although people have been using steroids over 50 years, it wasn't until we started seeing headlines about athletes using steroids that it started receiving attention.

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.

Drugs in sports is becoming a problem everywhere. “Another 26-year old athlete died of liver cancer after taking a number of different types of steroids over a four year period ” (Drugs and…). This is significant because this shows how dangerous drugs can be. If we have drug testing in schools this student could still be alive and would have stopped drugs before it got bad. The evidence points to the fact that drugs are a major health risk that is very concerning. In some cases taking drugs can even lead to death. In addition, another situation took place that affected a college student named Bob. Bob tried everything to gain weight so he could play football, so he chose to try steroids like everyone else. Steroids got him to play professional football, but horrible things were happening to him. He was having serious health problems. Bob quit drugs and is lucky to be alive (Drugs and…). This connects to the fact that doing drugs is a major

Rains, B. (2009). Testing Student Athletes for Drugs is Appropriate. In C. Watkins, Sports and Athletes (pp. 192-196). Detroit: Greenhaven Press.

Drug use in school athletics has become a substantial problem in today’s society. With the rising pressure to succeed and the high level intensity in athletics, it does not come to a surprise that so many student–athletes are giving in to drugs. Many schools that are faced with drug use are turning to mandatory drug tests for student-athletes; however mandatory drug tests are a violation of the Fourth Amendment, the Fifth Amendment and drug testing reverses the legal principle of innocent until proven guilty. In order to protect the rights of the American people, drug testing student-athletes without suspicion and without sufficient evidence should not be introduced into school athletics due to the fact that it violates the Fourth

They cited the Vernonia School District 47J v. Action case , where the Supreme Court ruled that suspicionless drug testing of student athletes was constitutional , the federal district court supported the policy, granting the board’s motion for summary judgment. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals , however, they agreed in favour of Earls and James , deciding that the policy did violate the Fourth Amendment . They found that schools “must demonstrate that there is some identifiable drug abuse problem among a reasonable number of those subject to the testing , such that testing a group of students will actually solve their drug problem.” The Tenth Circuit agreed that the school district had failed to meet this requirement. Then the Court agreed that the policy should be kept confidential . Then the Court came to the agreement that the student’s privacy was not important

Anabolic steroid abuse has become a huge concern among high school athletes. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of athletes using performance enhancing drugs in high school, almost double the number since the 1980's. Student athletes feel that steroids give them a competitive edge that they think they need to boost themselves past competition. Athletes, whether they are young or old, professional or amateur, are always looking to gain an advantage over their opponents to come away with the biggest win, our society views winning as something more important than the game itself. Success in competition brings status, popularity and fame, not to mention college scholarships. Today's athletes are looking for an advantage over the competition that will make them winners. Unfortunately, today student athletes are getting caught up in this competition frenzy and because of this, teenage use of performance enhancing drugs is growing to be very popular. At all levels of play, from peewee wrestling to professional football. Successful athletes rely on skill, practice, and hard work to increase their speed, power, and ability. Today, high school and even middle school students are using steroids illegally. The United Institute of Health reported that 2.9% of twelve graders in high school have used anabolic steroids. These drugs may also have been called: roids, juice, gym candy, pumpers, stackers, balls or bulls, arnies, or anabolics. High School students of our

Slowly pushing students to become addicts, drug testing high school student athletes may or may not be to blame. In Facts & Statistics on Random Drug Testing of High School Students, Dr. M.H. Davis stated, “In the early 1990s, many school districts began to look into drug testing as a way to curb student drug use, which led to two U.S. Supreme Court cases involving student privacy. The court upheld the constitutionality of drug testing student athletes in 1995, and in 2002, the court expanded high school drug testing policies to include all students who participate in a competitive extracurricular activity. In those rulings, the court stated deterring student drug use was more important than privacy” (Davis). Drug testing high school athletes

As previously stated, drug use is at an all-time high. Teens and young adults are being exposed to drugs, and they are using these drugs at a much higher rate than ever. This means that there are more players and athletes of all ages participating in sports who are also using drugs. Younger athletes see top-tier, successful players such as Josh Gordon and Wes Welker using these performance-enhancing drugs (Laird), and or other drugs, and want to do the same. They see these men as role models, and want to be like them. Being like them includes making both good and bad decisions. They are willing to take any risk to have the success they see these powerful athletes enjoying.

In the days when steroids were only being used by body builders and professional wrestlers, stories about performance enhancing drugs could only be found on the back pages of the newspapers. When former Oakland Raiders All-Pro Lyle Alzado admitted to steroid use in a 1991 Sports Illustrated article the whispers about what professional athletes were using steroids began to get louder. (Puma, 2005) Finally, in 2002, when Caminiti, a former MVP, came clean, two things were clear; athletes in all sports were using these drugs, and that they worked. The fact that steroid use had permeated our national pastime combined with the media explosion of the internet and 24 hour a day sports talk created a perfect storm which created the biggest sports story of the new millennium so far. However, two other facts remained clear, performance enhancing drugs were old news, and athletes in all sports from all over the world had been using them for years.

The k12 drug testing dilemma, when someone hears that they think about kids from kindergarten to a senior in highschool. In the magazine called “The k12 testing dilemma By: Lacey Ryan” She is explaining about an Ohio student that overdosed. “A grandparent of a student recently said: ‘I applaud your efforts, I just wish it had happened sooner,’” Lacey Ryan says. “We hope that it will start a conversation between adults and kids.” The reason this ties in with the thesis is that it is talking about a kid that overdosed on a drug that is illegal. In the next paragraph I am going to talk about The new standardized testing for athletes.

I understand that in Braxton High School there has been an incredible increase in student arrest for drug possession during the mist of last school year. Two students died after using drugs at post prom party. The school would now like to activate random drug test. I also understand that a large group of students and parents

The Cullman City Board of Education has approved a student-athlete drug screening program that will be put into effect for the upcoming 2014-2015 school year. The board approved the program with a 4-1 vote. Student athletes will be randomly selected for drug screening and all results of test will remain confidential. The drug screening may take place in or out of a student-athletes respective season. The purpose of the drug screening program is not punitive in nature. It is designed to benefit and protect students and allow the school to provide intervention for student-athletes if necessary. Student-athletes will be asked to administer uncontaminated samples for testing and will be provided with absolute privacy in a designated restroom

Many high schools across the country have brought much attention to the idea of giving random drug tests to students in high school. The newfound interest in student drug testing may be as a result of recent polls, which have shown an increase in drug use among high school students. Many teachers, parents, and members of school comities are for the drug testing, while most students and some parents feel that this would be a violation of students rights as Americans, which is true.

It seems that drugs have become a major epidemic within teenagers in the last few years. There is only so much that can be done to try and eliminate drug use, while not dramatically changing anything in the community. Drug testing the district’s student athletes provides many reasons that it is a worthwhile expense. Lawyers, Mark Vetter and Daniel Chanen, stated in the Sports Law Institute Newsletter “First, student-athletes were the leaders of the drug culture” (Vetter and Chanen ¶3). This simple statement proves that athletes need to be drug tested; it will improve multiple circumstances within the district and the lives of athletes. Drug testing student athletes at the high school level is a step every school district needs to take in order to improve their schools, and the students’ lifestyles despite the high price tag on these tests.