For many years now, we as parents have tried to keep our children away from drugs. Many parents believe that keeping their children in activities will lessen the chance of them getting involved in illegal activity, but did you ever think that signing your child up for soccer or football could possibility lead them to the world of drugs; the same environment we are trying to keep them away from? With published reports that the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) among children is increasing, parents need to keep an eye out for this new and increasing drug threat, like creatine and steroids. Although performance-enhancing drugs are illegal in college and pro sports, they are still legal in high school and our children continue to use and be destroyed by them.
“The practice of using artificial substances or methods to enhance athletic performance is called doping.” (Freudenrich, 2000). Though there are many types of substances that an athlete can use to enhancing their athletic performance, one of the most popular types used today is steroids. What are steroids? “A steroid is a chemical substance derived from cholesterol. The body has several major steroid hormones -- cortisol and testosterone in the male, estrogen and progesterone in the female. Catabolic steroids break down tissue, and anabolic steroids build up tissue. Anabolic steroids build muscle and bone mass primarily by stimulating the muscle and bone cells to make new protein.” (Freudenrich, 2000).
An athlete might believe that using steroids to boost performance is not potent enough to cause them any harm, but they are wrong. Doping not only causes medical issues for an athlete, but it can cause great emotional and social problems that most children in high school are not capable of dealing with.
As a result of taking PEDs, majority of athletes who use them end up with some type of behavior problem. Aggressive behavior is one social side effect that goes hand in hand with...