Former Texas longhorns head football coach once said, “Most players don’t mind drug testing once they realize they don’t have to study for it. ” The reason for quoting that is because there is more to the drug testing of athletes than just having to “study. ” Studying is the least of an athlete’s worries. They have to worry about the consequences of failing a random test, disappointing their fans, team, and family. Here is more. Why this topic? Growing up my childhood consisted of sports and more sports. I constantly wondered about my mental health and physical health.
Irvington, New Jersey is where I started my first sport and Irvington is one of New Jersey’s top urban neighborhoods. My first sport was baseball. My team practiced at Irvington Park, where around me was broken alcohol bottles, loose clothes, and drug paraphernalia. It was definitely an unsafe environment, but it was the only available place to practice. Ducking and dodging these harmful things made me wonder what would happen if I accidently touched or fell on one. I vividly remember my coach saying, “Remember to be careful out there because when you get to high school you will be drug tested.
My coach didn’t just say that because of what we practiced around but also because of who we hung around. Many of my teammates had older siblings who engaged in some form of drug use while we were around. I always thought to myself “is that fair? ” As a 12 year old I gave many scenarios to my coach on why I believed that being drug tested is unfair. I told him that where we come from most children have parents who use drugs and there was no way around it. My coach’s only response was to “do it,”? and I did it.
You can say that as a child I was so opposed to drug testing because of the circumstances I was in, but soon I was introduced to football which changed my mindset completely. Everyone knows that football is a competitive and physical sport. I’ve seen horrible injuries due to drug use that made me agree that drug testing is fair and that it should be completed for athletes of all ages, female, and male. Entering senior seminar I was informed that we have a 25 page senior thesis on education and immediately “drug testing” popped into my head.
This was a question that bothered me my entire life, so I am finally getting the chance to explore it. What is a drug test and who gets drug tested? According to Merriam-Webster, a drug test is a “test that examines a person’s blood or urine for evidence of illegal drugs” There are 5 primary ways of drug testing a person which are urine, hair, saliva, blood, and sweat. A urine test is the most common type of drug testing. Occasionally, facilities perform hair, blood, and saliva test. Anyone can be drug tested at any time if they chose to but drug testing takes place in many settings.
It can take place at home, work, and in school. According to healthline, “many employers require potential employees to get a urine drug test before they can be hired. One benefit of the urine drug screen is that it can keep people with drug problems out of jobs that require the ability to be alert and focused. A drug-addicted air traffic controller or truck driver, for instance, could put the safety of many people at risk. ” Drug and alcohol rehab centers test their patients on a regular everyday basis just to make sure that patients are remaining sober.
People on parole or probation are often scheduled for drug tests and even hit with random drug testing by their assigned officer. Finally, drug test takes places on students and student athletes. Definition of a student athlete? A student athlete is a participant in an organized competitive sport sponsored by the educational program that he or she is currently enrolled but can also be a child who goes to school and plays for their local sports team. For example, “Little League” baseball or “Pop Warner” football.
Student athletes balances out the roles of being an everyday, full time student and an everyday, full time athlete. Some high schools and majority of colleges offer athletic scholarships in a variety of sports and many student athletes are blessed to receive scholarships to attend these institutions but these scholarships are not mandatory to be considered a student athlete. It is not mandatory to be considered a student athlete because being a student athlete comes with a lot of other things.
Things like maintaining a 2. 0 gpa, upholding an image for you and the school, and most importantly, being drug tested. In most cases these drug tests are random. When a person hears “student athlete,” they automatically conclude that things are easy for you but instead there are many disadvantages of being a student athlete. Disadvantages like, limited time for social life, forgetting the importance of the schoolwork given in the classroom, and raised expectations.
Like myself, I worry about handling my business in school, and on the track that I have little time to go out and enjoy life. Early morning workouts, attending class, study hall, and team meetings take up an entire day. Some student athletes forget the importance of their schoolwork because they are so worried about impressing high school coaches, or even professional coaches. NCAA’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Brian Hainline said, “Student athletes are looked up to by their peers, but also by people in the community, typically smaller children, as well.
From trying to please their parents, coaches, and fans, to making good grades and maintaining a social life, student athletes become overwhelmed. Their minds and bodies become exhausted and overworked, causing them to often feel stressed and depressed. ” I decided to point out the disadvantages because many have no clue what an everyday student athlete goes through. I left the biggest disadvantage for last and that is being drug tested. Acceptable or Unacceptable “Is drug testing acceptable or unacceptable? is a question that many athletes have always had on their minds. It is a question that many have different opinions about.
Opinions often leads a person to discover facts. In order to have an opinion on drug testing a person must know about the background of drug testing, the consequences of a failed test, and the effects of these horrible drugs on the body. Although research suggest that drug testing athletes invades an athlete’s privacy and violates an athlete’s Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches. Drug testing should become more acceptable.
Drug testing is acceptable because drugs harm an athlete’s body, mentally and physically, and there are harmful consequences to a failed test, so the thought of being drug tested should steer an athlete straight. High school student athletes should be drug tested. It is an unfair advantage to other athletes when some are using drugs. The usage of drugs also becomes a safety issue as well. Under the influence, an athlete could injure himself or others playing the sport. If tested and results are positive the student should not be allowed to play until they receive a negative test result.
There are consequences for actions and rules to follow in life. The results should be reported to the parents and allow the parents to seek counseling for the student. Continuous drug testing of the athlete should be taken and as long as the results stay negative, they can continue to participate in the sport. My research is not about how an athlete is drug tested but instead it explores the consequences of failing a test and the damage that drugs do on the body. Drugs can have lasting effects on the brain and body.
Athletes of all levels have different attitudes toward being drug tested. Some athletes think it is fair and some athletes believe that it is not fair. Being that I am a longtime athlete but now an athlete at the collegiate level, my research will explore and give my own personal accounts related to my thesis. The three questions I will be answering is 1) how do drugs affect an athlete’s body mentally? 2) How do drugs affects an athlete’s body physically? 3) What are the consequences of a failed drug test in high school institutions and NCAA institutions?
