Jan 29, 2015Steroids in High School
Although most of the discussion surrounding the use of performance-enhancing drugs has focused on Olympic and professional sports, there’s growing evidence that high school athletics are not free from their influence.
A recent series of articles in the Dallas Morning News looked at steroid use by high school athletes in the Dallas area and uncovered a school where nine athletes admitted to using steroids. The paper also found that steroids can be easily obtained by high school students; coaches rarely confront athletes or their parents about suspected steroid use, in part because of a fear of being sued; controlling steroid use is a low priority among most law enforcement agencies; and few schools test for steroids in any manner.
The exact level of steroid use by high school athletes is hard to determine. A survey of Texas high school students taken every other year by Texas A&M University estimates that nearly 42,000, or 2.0 percent, have used steroids. The percentage of 12th graders reporting steroid use was 4.2 percent. However, these figures include both athletes and non-athletes.
To read the Dallas Morning News series, go to: www.dallasnews.com/specialreports/sports and click on “The Secret Edge” (free registration required).
