Pressured Performance Enhancement in Youth Sports
With the ever growing community of competitive sports, abuse of illegal performance enhancing drugs has never been higher. In today’s society the image to resemble those of professional athletes or stars on television is turning our young athletes to the abuse of these drugs. These drugs are not only illegal but very harmful to your body. These drugs are promised to provide increased strength and stamina. It might be thought that only professionals or Olympic competitors look to use these substances, but our young athletes are also lured into its entrapment. The youth tend to take risks and abuse these drugs because they are either pressured to perform, curious to its results and physical frustration. The secondary reason our young athletes are looking to turn to illegal performance enhancing drugs is curiosity and accessibility. The curiosity in these substances is due to the acclaimed edge of increased strength and stamina which offer an edge over competitors. Everyday we hear our famous athletes testing positive for these drugs it makes us ask ourselves, “What if I?” were to take these drugs as well. Us as youth look up to these professional athletes as idols, which in turn says to us it’s “OK”. Not only does personal curiosity lead to use of these banned substances but so does our society. Society not only gives us this curiosity to abuse a banned substance but its accessibility is outrageous. It can actually be purchased not only online but at our own schools and local gyms. Society participates in the curiosity of these illegal substances as we look up to professional athletes that abuse it and is easily accessible in our communities. The final reason young athletes look to performance enhancers is simply called physical frustration also known as a plateau. In the weight lifting world a plateau can be the worst feeling anyone could ever have. As a weight lifter, I know exactly how this feels. You...