High School Athletes Drug Testing

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.

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

Another issue of drug testing student athletes is that it is also known to be ineffective. Drug testing will not point out students who are facing drug abuse and will not be able to help them. Studies found no difference between drug use in schools with and without testing. “A 2003 study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse – the largest of its kind – examined 94,000 students at 900 schools in the U.S. and found no difference between levels of drug use at schools that test their students and those that do not,” (Cosner). Drug use will still be existent in high schools. Studies conclude that drug use in schools that use testing and those that don’t. In fact, students may stop using drugs easy to detect like marijuana, and start using cocaine, heroin, and drugs similar to those. Students who really enjoy getting involved in sports, but have a strong attraction to drugs, may end up using harder drugs so they won’t get caught. As discussed in the article on The New York Times webpage,

These are the main reasons I believe high school sports players should be drug tested. The effects of marijuana or any other type of drug is bad with sports. If they were drug tested, it would help the team improve as a

Many high school athletes oppose to drug testing, because they feel that it is not right. High school athletes shouldn’t be drug tested because it is very costly, a violation of rights, and student athletes won’t be able to play high school sports. In fact to drug test one 400 athletes at an average 24 dollars per student athlete (Ingraham).

One of the reasons why having drug tests on student athletes in not beneficial because of the Cost of them. In the past years, America has spent a lot of money and fundings on drug testing. In the article “ Guilty Until Proven Innocent”, they said that George W. Bush has spent 23 million dollars on drug testing from federal funding (McLure). The thing that bothers people is that America is spending so much money on drug testing. Most of the time that people do drug testing, it's just a waste of time because most people are innocent. While the government is spending that money on drug testing, they could be spending that money on other beneficial things for the country. They could even give that money to the veterans who risked their life for the country that are now in poverty. In the same article, the University of Michigan conducted a survey and they found that drug use when testing and not testing were identical (McLure). This also shows that drug testing is a waste of time and that they are making an investment on something not beneficial. Even when the school advisors say it's not that much money, it all adds up across America. If the cost was way cheaper, drug tests would be a little more agreeable. Drug tests are a waste of time and are a waste of money. Lots of people just think that drug tests just say if someone is positive or if someone is negative. They never think what's going through students mind before and after the test.

Some people are discussing whether drug testing student athletes should be allowed in school or not, I think it should be allowed and here are some reasons why. Parents continue to argue with coaches saying that drug testing shouldn’t be allowed because it makes the children nervous and it makes it hard to focus on them. Some coaches agree that drug testing shouldn’t be allowed, they say that the kids can’t handle the pressure of the possibility of the results coming out incorrect. If students continue to take drug tests, I think it should be monthly based and not random so that they know when it is and it would no longer be random. If students had to take monthly based drug tests it would help the team as a whole because everyone would be healthy, it would also create a better community, and it also makes everything fairer.

In recent years the number of athletes caught using drugs has increased dramatically. The use of a illegal or unprescribed drugs can cause serious problems and unfairness in many ways. Certain drugs can cause harm to the user and the people around the user, most student athletes do not even know what they are putting into their bodies. With all the risks many persons propose student athletes to be drug tested at random.

However, drug testing is constitutional and has proven to be useful nationwide in America. A simple search on the World Wide Web will unveil the truth about the constitutionality of drug testing in America. Two major cases from Supreme Court, Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton and Board of Education of Independent School District No. 92 of Pottawatomie County, et al, Petitioners v. Lindsay Earls et al, involved the challenging of officials’ ability to drug test students in order to participate in extracurricular activities. In both cases, the ruling resulted in a majority declaring these test requirements to be constitutional (“Prevention”). Along with the fact that testing has held its constitutionality in Supreme Court, evaluations have proven that the testing process effectively minimizes drug use among high school students in extracurricular activities. “Some 16 percent of students subject to drug testing reported using substances...in the past 30 days, compared with 22 percent of comparable students in schools without the program (‘The Effectiveness’).” This fact means that six percent less students in the high schools studied were not using drugs in the schools which had been implementing the drug tests. If this same number would be a proportionate reflection of all high schools in America, six percent more of high school students - about 3.3 million teenagers - would not be utilizing drugs and contracting the painful consequences later in life (“Fast Facts”). That is a humongous number which means a humongous number of kids would be drug-free, living healthier lives with even brighter futures. The constitutional drug testing in high school athletics could save over 3 million kids from having to endure possible years of life with painful illnesses like cancer during

Middle school students should be drug tested in order to play a sport. If High School students have to be drug tested to be eligible to play a sport or to participate in extracurricular activities, middle school students should have to get tested also. They are just as guilty as their peers. In this generation children can’t be controlled of what they do because they aren’t raised correctly and sometimes they make wrong decisions because they are young. Schools are just trying to prevent athletes from going down the wrong route.

When it come to drugs now in 2016, there are many people around us that we don't know are using them. Sports such as, tennis, soccer, basketball, football ,etc. are definitely competitive. There is an absolute necessity for schools to include drug testing programs for the safety and fairness of their students, but one of the problems schools face if the lack of funds.

Although it can be an excellent idea to make sure that school athletes don't take drugs, it can also be good if they do (depending on what sport they play) because if it were to be bodybuilding it can be a good idea, football so they don't feel the hits as bad as it would be. You are given an option to have a player freak out and not want to play anymore because of a hit he took in a game, or have a player who is taking hits as if they were nothing. Bodybuilding would you prefer a person who is lifting hundreds of pounds and looking like they do or have a person who lifts less than that and doesn't look like it. Its like saying do you want to get a lion or a little chihuahua (the lion being the bodybuilder who does use drugs and the little

In 1995 the Supreme Court stated that schools could randomly drug test their athletic students. By 2008, 16 percent of school districts had started to take on some kind of drug testing program (John 2). Even though the Supreme Court has a certain amount of ruling on who is tested at the schools, some schools have expanded their range of students, a few going all the way to the whole student body (John 2/3). One of the main reasons the supreme court ruled towards testing the student athletes is because they are supposed to be seen as the role models and influencers of the school, and outside the school. Seeing athletes doing drugs might increase the drug use of the school. (John 3). Student

As high school students we are put in an environment that sets out our stepping stones for the rest of our future. Putting us in the most realistic situations possible, making us prepared for the real world. Every student is steered different and led through different paths. Looking into the athletic field the question is whether or not high school athletes should be subjected to regular test. When thinking of this question many things come to mind about the matter. Some may argue that these athletes are just kids and shouldn’t be forced to drug test. Thinking back to the purpose of of high school which is supposed to “prepare us for the real world”, I feel like it’s more than acceptable and in some cases necessary.

Introducing the fear to students on drug testing that will directly affect them, will most likely decrease the use of drugs being abused. The president of the Institute for Behavior and Health explains that RSDT (Random Student Drug Test) could be used on any athlete, any day, and any time without notice (DuPont et al ¶6). Making the testing random will help eliminate any cheating or strategizing that the students who would test positive could be doing. Keith Ablow, MD and psychiatrist published an article in 2011 said that, both varsity and junior varsity teams should be tested with results kept private (¶6). To only test Varsity athletes would be unacceptable because JV athletes could cause just as much harm to athletes around them as to themselves. To make it fair and because kids follow by example, coaches would test also (Ablow ¶ 9). When a positive test appears, there should be punishment, but not to the extent of expulsion. Guidelines to RSDT programs say it is not supposed to end up in punishment for drug tests (DuPont et al ¶25). Not giving any punishment would defeat the purpose because then kids would not care to stop their drug use. Random drug tests to not only student-athletes, but students in general will promote a healthier lifestyle without drug use (DuPont et al ¶5). Students should be on edge not knowing if they are going to be tested or