Should High School Athletes Have Drug Testing

The second reason why i believe that drug testing for student athletes is unnecessary is because it is not a very effective option. The American Academy of Pediatrics argue that, "testing in school does not get to the root of addiction and overdoses, and that its effectiveness is inconclusive." This shows that drug

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

Drug testing student athletes have helped lower drug abuse in high school and middle school. According to The National Center of Addiction and Substance Abuse, 15 to 17 percent of student athletes have failed their drug test. People believe that the student athletes should be drug tested before big games and events such as a state tournament. Drug testing needs to go around schools before big events and games to check for play enhancers and drugs, such as steroids.

My evidence for this is that athletes and students should be drug tested for drugs if they have taken any before school. But this is why kids should take any drugs or smoke. My second reason is that the teachers and staff want the other students and athletes to be safe, and don't want them to take any drugs so then it doesn’t mess with the students and athletes learning in school. My evidence is that if students and athletes take drugs it can make them be crazy, also make them not to pay attention in school and, it could mess with their grades if they are not paying attention. So you should never do drugs. Someone’s counterclaim is that people should not be drug tested all the in the school year. Their statement was that “ I think drug testing throughout the school year is stupid, because we are a good school and no one here takes drugs.”

Life is all about making decisions, and the ones an individual makes has an impact on him or her for the rest of their life. Drug testing high schools athletes could benefit them and their community in many ways. It will keep the kids healthier and make them pick a priority and help them mature. Drug testing is a great way to insure that the kids stay safe and out of trouble.High school athletes need to set up a good future for themselves, without drugs hindering them from their goals.

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).

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

Drugs are prohibited for use to athletes. Playing sports is a privilege and using drugs is a violation of the athletic program. Student athletes should be drug tested in order to keep performance enhancing drugs out of sports and to set the standard for what it will be like in college. It is an unfair advantage to other athletes when some are using performance enhancing drugs and it also gives the team and school a bad image. Drug use also becomes a health issue and the school will more than likely be held responsible to an extent because they should be more aware of what is going on with their

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.

In high schools throughout the country, drug and steroid use is skyrocketing. In a recent survey, 35.1% of high school seniors said that they have smoked pot within the past year, nearly 44% of students know someone who sells drugs (The Recovery Village), and 6% of athletes have used steroids; even that number is predicted to be much higher (Global Sports Development). Many of these students are also participating in sports or other activities. Drugs and steroids provide an unfair playing field in high school sports, and in all levels of athletics. Drug use is a pervasive issue in today’s premier leagues of sports, whether it is the Olympics or the NFL. It seems as if not a day goes by where we don’t see a headline about an elite athlete being busted for drug use; why don’t we have the same protocols being used in high school sports? This is why we should have mandatory drug testing for high school athletes. We will begin by discussing why this is currently a problem in our schools, then we will look into the causes of the problem and how we as a society have contributed to it, and finally we will review potential solutions to the problem.

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.

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