Its no secret that there is a strong lure to young athletes which draws them to the use of steroids. Performance enhancing drugs have been a highly debated topic for decades now. Anytime professional sports is faced with a new drug use scandal it is brought back to the forefront of sport discussion. The question though, is what happens when young athletes see how well these professionals perform when using.
Especially during the 1990’s and early 2000’s baseball was consumed with the use of steroids. While the MLB cracked down on this drug use it is hard to argue that there was a more exciting time to watch professional baseball. Players were bigger and stronger than ever and were hitting home runs at an alarming rate. When young athletes began to realize that they too could see increased performance with steroid use it was not long before users were getting younger and younger.
The sad truth however, was that these kids were not seeing the exact effects they saw within the stadiums and televisions. Instead, due to inconsistent use and high transitions hormone patterns there was a drastic increase in mood swings and depressions. As a result, suicide rates with young steroid users are much more common. Suicide already acts as the third most common source of death for adolescence between the ages of 15-24. Adding the use of performance enhancing drugs which can alter moods and depressions only increases the odds of another unfortunate loss.
In an effort to gain a competitive edge, young athletes will turn to steroid use to perform like their favorite athletes. The serious risk of negative effects due to steroid use can far out way any benefits these drugs could produce.
- Jacob Groat
Group 4-Sport Management Seminar 