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Jackson W. Skolik

ENG 1201

Dr. Nate Helmers

June 12, 2020

Given the current climate of youth sports programs, which is placing seemingly

unreachable high expectations on athletes, young athletes are turning to performance-enhancing

drugs, such as anabolic steroids, to rapidly gain an advantage over their competitors

(Feynmanwebteam). Action needs to be taken, as the detrimental effects of steroid use can be

long-term and possibly prove to be deadly for young athletes. These detrimental and potentially-

deadly effects of steroid use can be seen clearly in the tragic story of Taylor Hooten, a promising

seventeen year-old Plano, Texas high school baseball pitcher. Hooten began using a

combination of steroids and other harmful growth hormones to build muscle mass and get an

edge on his competitors on the diamond. This use of banned substances led to muscle growth for

Taylor, but it also led to uncharacteristic increases of acne, mood swings, and angry violent

behavior for Taylor. The steroid use wreaked such havoc on his body and emotional well-being

that he fell into deep depression and ultimately took his own life as a result of it. After his death,

his family, coaches and friends began to put together the entire picture of what had happened
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with Taylor. This led them to realize that many of today’s young people and parents are ill-

informed about the prevalence and dangers of these powerful illegal drugs (Just Think Twice).

The physical signs and dangerous effects of anabolic steroid use should be identified and

intentionally taught to all parents, teachers, coaches and athletes before athletes finish the fifth

grade so that dangerous outcomes can be avoided, helping athletes find healthy ways to meet

their physical and athletic goals. This research paper will delve into anabolic steroid history,

signs and effects of steroid use, and then will provide a solution for the growing problem.

“Steroids are synthetic drugs that imitate hormones our bodies produce naturally as a part

of maturation or in response to stress. Anabolic steroids imitate male sex hormones” (Steroid

Abuse: Steroids in Sports). The word anabolic refers to the process of building muscle.

Anabolic steroids, which are typically called “roids”, juice, hype, or pump, have become the

most popular form of performance-enhancing prescription drugs that are abused by athletes

today ( NIDA.What Are Anabolic Steroids?).

The National Institute on Drug Abuses’s article, “What is the History of Anabolic Steroid

Use?” identifies that steroid use is believed to have its beginnings in Germany, as testosterone

was first synthesized there to medically treat depression. In the 1930s and 1940s, chemist Percy

Lavon Julian used steroids for the legitimate medical treatment of anemia, breast cancer, and

hereditary angioedema (Steroid Abuse: Steroids in Sports). The NIDA article goes on to identify

that, “Professional athletes began misusing anabolic steroids during the 1954 Olympics, when

Russian weightlifters were given testosterone. In the 1980s, anabolic steroid use began to extend

into the general population and young men began using these substances, sometimes to enhance

athletic performance but in many cases to improve personal performance.” (NIDA. What is the

History…?)
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Steroids in sports became a much discussed and debated topic in the 1980s, 1990s and

early 2000s, as multiple high-profile athletes were suspected of or tested positive for using

steroids to improve their performance on the athletic field. The power-hitting accomplishments

of baseball stars Barry Bonds, Jose Conseco, Mark McGuire, and Sammy Sosa were tarnished by

their use of steroids. Other star athletes such as Marion Jones, Ben Johnson, and Lance

Armstrong, also had their record-setting accomplishments tainted by their habitual use of the

illegal, performance-enhancing substances (Goldman). Global Sports Development’s article,

“Steroid Use Among High School Athletes” asks the following question in regard to these

disgraced superstar athletes, “So what does a high school player do when they see this? One one

hand, they want to improve their game and know that steroids can increase strength, with

harmful side effects. And they know it’s wrong. On the other hand, they see their heroes get

away with it time and time again” (Feynmanwebteam). It appears that many young athletes

today have fallen into the trap of thinking that the rewards of steroid use may outweigh the risks.

There are several signs indicating that a person may be abusing steroids. In “Anabolic

Steroid Abuse”, Dr. Benjamin Wedro and Dr. William C. Shiel state, “Individuals who abuse

steroids can experience symptoms when they stop taking steroids, such as mood swings, fatigue,

restlessness, loss of appetite, insomnia, reduced sex drive, and steroid craving. The most

dangerous of the withdrawal symptoms is depression because it sometimes leads to suicide

attempts.” In “Mood Symptoms in Steroid Users: The Unexamined Role of Concument

Stimulant Use”, the authors write, “Prior research has found adverse psychological effects of

steroids including anger, aggressiveness, depression, and mania.” If parents, coaches, teachers,

and students are clearly aware of these signs, they will more likely be able to help a young

athlete refrain from initially using or discontinue using illegal steroids.

An often-repeated key point in the research on steroids is the exhaustive list of negative

effects that illegal steroid use has on the body. In their article, “What Are the Side Effects of

Anabolic Steroid Misuse?”, the National Institution on Drug Abuse details negative

consequences on the cardiovascular and hormonal systems, the potential for contracting

infectious diseases (by sharing hypodermic needles), liver damage, damage to the

musculoskeletal system, psychiatric effects, and damage to the skin. Increased education for

athletes, and those who care about them, in regard to the short-term and long-term detrimental

effects of steroid use will make an impact on an athlete’s decision to use or not to begin using

these dangerous illegal drugs.

Some have argued that athletes should be allowed to use anabolic steroids and other

performance-enhancing drugs because their use allows athletes to have complete autonomy and

freedom to express themselves as athletes and as individuals with civil rights. In the Journal of

the Philosophy of Sport, researcher, Michael Veber writes, “Cast in these terms, debate over

steroids in sport mirrors debate over whether other illicit drugs such as marijuana and cocaine

ought to be legalized. Here too a clash between harm and autonomy arguments is often what

takes center stage. And, of course, one can find the same sort of conflict where other social

issues are debated (Veber)”. Veber concluded that the lifting of bans on steroids in sports

would actually lead to more athletes feeling coerced to use them, therefore giving them less

freedom of choice on the subject. He stated, “Therefore, if we lift the ban on PED’s in sport,

then we are undermining the autonomy of the athletes”(Veber). Although some have debated

that athletes should be given the choice on whether to damage their minds and bodies with

foreign substances, such as anabolic steroids; it is clear that the acute and long-term negative
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effects of their use far outweigh any gains in personal liberty that may be made and may actually

undercut that perceived autonomy.

Increased education on the signs and detrimental effects of steroids on the body and mind

is vital to preventing or stopping their initial use by young people. There are several programs

nationwide that aim at providing this type of education for all involved. In Michigan, the

Michigan High School Athletic Association, like many other state athletic organizations requires

showing a ten-minute DVD, titled “Make the Right Choice” to all school parents, coaches,

athletes and administrators. This video, produced by the National Federation of State High

School Association (NFSHSA), features messages from former steroid abusers and sports

personalities that speak out about the dangers of beginning or continuing to use steroids

(athleticbusiness.com). In addition to the NFSHSA’s education efforts, the National Association

on Drug Abuse has instituted a program that has demonstrated strong potential for preventing

illegal steroid use among high school athletes. Their ATLAS (Adolescents Training and

Learning to Avoid Steroids) program demonstrates to teen athletes that steroids are not necessary

for building muscle and improving performance on the field of play. “In the program, coaches

and team leaders teach the harmful effects of anabolic steroids on immediate sports performance

and discuss how to refuse offers of drugs” (NIDA. What Can Be Done to Prevent Steroid

Abuse?). A third group that sets their sights on educating athletes on the signs and consequences

of steroid abuse is the Taylor Hooten Foundation. In cooperation with Little League, they have

established the Taylor Hooten E-Learning Program, a program that has the primary mission of

educating parents, coaches, and players of the prevalence and dangerous effects of steroids and

other performance-enhancing drugs. The Taylor Hooten Foundation page on the Little League

website states, “With the increased exposure of children to anabolic steroids and other APEDs at
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a younger age, it is imperative that parents use their training course that we are offering to them

in partnership with Little League Baseball and Softball to further educate themselves on these

topics “(LittleLeague).

These efforts by NFSHA, NIDA and Little League all aim at educating players, coaches

and parents, however, the question needs to be asked: are schools and organizations waiting too

long to provide this vital information to athletes? Is this a case of “too little - too late”? It is the

opinion of this writer that a concerted, systematic effort to educate on this topic should be made

at a much younger age if the message is to be effective in preventing the use of steroids for

young athletes. Steroid education should begin, for all American public and private school

students, as a part of a nationalized program for all fifth-graders. This could best be done in

conjunction with another well-established national program for fifth-graders, called D.A.R.E

(Drug Abuse Resistance Education). “D.A.R.E is a police officer-led series of classroom lessons

that teaches children from kindergarten through 12th grade how to resist peer pressure and live

productive drug and violence-free lives” (About D.A.R.E.). It is suggested that a unit should be

added to the existing fifth grade D.A.R.E. curriculum that would address educating students and

parents about the signs and negative effects of anabolic steroid abuse on young people. This unit

could be taught by local high school coaches in conjunction with local police, using the valuable

resources put out by the credible, well-researched groups, such as NFHSA, NIDA and Little

League. This national early education program would be most effective as it would reach all

American students before they reach puberty and before they begin to play highly competitive

interscholastic sports.

In conclusion, the high expectations of sports programs for young athletes have put

extreme pressure on young athletes to find an edge to help them compete better against their
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opponents. These increasing expectations and pressures have led many young athletes to use

anabolic steroids as a quick way to gain strength, but few of these athletes are aware of the

impact that these illegal drugs can have on their physical and psychological well-being.

Educating all involved on the history, signs and effects, and ways to avoid initial use of anabolic

steroids is imperative for all involved in the proper development of young athletes. The physical

signs and dangerous effects of anabolic steroid abuse should be identified and intentionally

taught to parents, teachers, and athletes before those athletes finish the fifth grade so that

dangerous outcomes can be avoided; helping athletes find healthy ways to meet their physical

and athletic goals. One can wonder if Taylor Hoote would still be with us if he, his parents, and

his coaches had been educated on the signs and effects of steroid abuse before he began playing

highly-competitive interscholastic sports? A systematic, nationwide school-based steroid

education program, presented at a pre-pubescent age could have made all the difference in the

world for Taylor and other athletes like him.

Works Cited
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