By David Jackson/reporter
Sports can not rid itself of steroid abuse, which is spreading quickly into high schools.
High school students want to build their bodies and muscle mass in a short period of time to become fully developed adults before they finish high school.
Student athletes are using performance enhancement drugs and steroids during the off-season to become varsity athletes at a faster pace.
Many experts believe students are taking steroids because professional athletes are getting away with open use.
Recently Major League Baseball has placed strict consequences on players caught using steroids and performance enhancement drugs in order to clean up the game.
The National Football League has done the same thing to clean up the sport.
Despite restrictions, it is feared young athletes will continue to use enhancement drugs.
In order to curb the problem, starting this fall, the state of Texas and the University Interscholastic League
will test athletes in 3 percent of the high schools for performance enhancement drugs and steroids.
State officials will randomly select high schools for testing.
Since sports are only an extra-curricular activity for students, educators have put restrictions on academic eligibility, which will keep students competing at a fair skill level.
Over the years, students have used products like Creatine and Met-Rx that they can buy at health and nutrition stores.
Some high school football coaches have been accused of telling their players to use performance enhancement drugs.
Doctors have not confirmed possible side- effects for high school students using performance enhancement drugs, but they may face other effects if recruits are caught using enhancement drugs and steroids.
Cornerback Coach Clay Jennings of Baylor University weighed in on the issue.
“ Students using these enhancement drugs will possibly lose scholarships, and a red flag will be put on these athletes,” he said.
Jennings also said the side effects of these products are many.
“ They can cause a change in mood or joints and muscles to break down quicker,” he said.
Neither the state nor UIL has discussed what the consequences should be if a student is caught using any performance enhancement drugs.
Some local media outlets on sports networks have allowed callers and parents to discuss what the consequences should be.
Some parents believe that any student athletes using these items should be suspended for the remainder of the season.
Other parents think those athletes should not be allowed to play on the next level or receive scholarships.
Some argue the entire program should suffer making and the school should forfeit all games in which the student played, similar to the academic ineligibility rule.
Some people think that the kids who are cheating by using these products should be banned from athletic competition for life.
In order to stop steroid use, many people contend it must be stopped in the high schools before the athlete moves on to the collegiate and professional level.
