Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sports Essay Example for Free

Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sports Essay Athletes use performance enhancing drugs to boost their game. The professionals who use these drugs are ruining the integrity of the game. Many people don’t understand why professional athletes would go to such extreme measures to be better when they have already proven themselves. Athletes are just taking away from their natural ability by using these dangerous drugs. The risk of using performance enhancing drugs is a lot greater than the reward, because an athlete’s reputation could be tarnished and their career ruined. Money is one of the major reasons why players use them; if they perform at levels higher than what their natural abilities could do they will be offered a large sum of money. Athletes are also putting their long term health in danger. These drugs have many dangerous side effects that are going unnoticed by the players. Even kids are starting to use performance enhancing drugs. Young kids look up to professional athletes and they watch everything they do. Kids want to be just like the pros so they will do exactly what they do to become better and unfortunately that is using drugs. Professional athletes who use performance enhancing drugs are setting bad examples for young athletes trying to follow their dreams. Performance Enhancing Drugs have been available in the United States for a long time, but they have only been starting to become a topic of discussion in the last fifteen to twenty years. Almost all of these drugs are manufactured outside of the United States, so that makes them more dangerous to take. Due to the fact that the drugs were not manufactured here they have not been evaluated by the U.S Food and Drug Administration. Some of these substances are naturally occurring, easily available and completely legal, while others are manufactured illegally, or banned by many sporting organizations. One form called HGH is the most commonly used substance; it increases an athlete’s muscle mass and performance. Athletes can be suspended for using performance enhancing drugs, but some people think that the organizations are not doing enough to stop pla yers from using them. For example if a player in major league baseball is found to have been using an illegal substance they would end up receiving a fifty game suspension, but they can still come back and play once the suspension has been fully served. The punishment should be a lot greater so athletes will not even think about using them. Professional athletes are paid by how well they perform, so by taking steroids to boost their ability they will receive more money. It’s not fair for the athletes who play the game fairly, because other players will have a competitive advantage over them. Every athlete should have an equal opportunity when playing professionally, because if they see other players taking illegal drugs to do better they will start doing the same. Using performance enhancing drugs will just cheat an athlete out of their true talent; they will not be respected for what they had accomplished during their careers. For example, there was a professional baseball player named Barry Bonds who took a great risk in using these illegal drugs. He was an excellent player throughout his career, but over the years his body had become significantly stronger. He broke numerous homerun records while in the Major Leagues including the most homeruns ever hit during a single career. He was later proven to have been using performance enhancing drugs. This caused him to jeopardize all of his records that most players would have to work really hard to get. A couple of years later Barry Bonds was sent to court over this issue and was later convicted of obstruction of justice. This is just one of many examples on how such a foolish mistake could ruin such a promising life forever. Many world records and Olympic medals have been taken back because the athlete used performance enhancing drugs. Another example of an athlete that took performance enhancing drugs is Ben Johnson during the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea. He set a world record in the 100m dash. He ran a 9.79, which at the time was a new world record. A few weeks later his medal was taken away from him, because he tested positive for human growth hormones. Even though this was a great feet in the history of track and field, nobody will be able to say he did it with natural talent and athleticism. He would end up not being able to compete ever again. The senseless decision to take performance enhancing drugs could ruin an athlete’s entire career. Many High School students have started to use these dangerous drugs; this is starting to become a major problem because athletes are just cheating themselves and are not becoming better. Professional athletes are setting very bad examples for high school students. Something every student has to deal with no matter if you play a varsity sport or is just a normal student is the pressure to do well and succeed. Some school districts have even been contemplating to add drug testing to high school athletes. This will eventually stop people from cheating to become professional athletes. Students also need to know what they are doing is wrong and could dangerously affect their long term health and could possibly lead to death. One statistic that may not seem extreme is that 2.3 percent of all high school students have used some type of performance enhancing drug. This is a dangerous statistic that no one is really addressing. If a young student wants to become pro they need to work hard and not give in to the temptation of using drugs to boost their athletic abilities. If they were to get caught using these drugs they could be suspended from school and their future and dreams could be ruined by one irresponsible decision. If professional athletes didn’t use these terrible drugs less high school students would use them. It’s very important for professionals to make sure they are setting good examples for young aspiring athletes. Professional athletes are slowly starting to raise awareness about this topic and are traveling to schools across the country informing students about the consequences that could perhaps present themselves. The use of performance enhancing drugs greatly affects the idea of the American dream. The American dream is the vision of growing up and being able to do whatever you desire The USA is built on the id ea of the meritocracy, and that is the impression that only the best is good enough. Kids have dreams becoming professional and making a lot of money. An athlete who would cheat themselves to reach these goals is ruining this entire concept. If kids start to think it is okay to cheat in order to achieve lifelong goals they will end up just hurting themselves, and will grow up to think that it is ok. Athletes who cheat in order to be successful may think they are living the American dream, but in reality there not. Cheating your way to get to the top is not the right thing to do. People who work hard and put in a lot of effort have an unfair disadvantage when it comes to being successful. Using illegal drugs in order to make large amounts of money is not right and unfair. If more people start doing this the concept of living up to these expectations could be tarnished forever. On the other hand athletes who have worked and trained hard their entire life have the right to be proud of themselves for what they had achieved. They can live life knowing that they did things the right way and that is all that matters. When it comes to living up to the American dream one should be happy and feel accomplished of everything they have done. The use of performance enhancing drugs in sports is a growing problem here in the United States. Athletes are taking away from their natural ability and are cheating themselves. They take these drugs in order to perform better and gain a competitive advantage. If players are caught using these drugs the player’s integrity could possibly be ruined forever. In today’s world it is becoming more and more difficult to get away with drug use in professional sports, the testing is much more advanced and the consequences are even greater. In situations like these the risk is a lot greater than the reward. Athletes need to live up to their true potential and not worry about being better than humanly possible. If an athlete just works hard every day he or she could reach goals that they didn’t think they would be able to reach. These dangerous drugs have much more negative effects on one’s body than positive ones. Some people may think that athletes are pushed to us e these dangerous substances when in reality they are just putting pressure on themselves to be better. Many of the modern day athletes are not aware of what kind of harm they are doing to their bodies; most think that they are making their bodies so strong so they will be able to handle long term side effects much more easily. This topic should receive a lot more attention that it is receiving, and there should be more programs developed to raise awareness and discuss the dangerous side effects of choosing to participate in athletic events in this matter. It must be difficult for athletes who don’t get caught using these drugs to live their life knowing that they not only cheated themselves but the nature of professional sports. These athletes are setting a terrible example for young athletes and are only caring about their own careers and not how their actions reflect the entire world. Athletes should end their careers asking one question and that is: Do we want to hurt our bodies and ruin the integrity of sports in order to be successful.