Journal of the Louisiana Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance
We have seen in the media certain instances where athletes have been involved in violent altercations between members of the public, or with a girlfriend or boyfriend. We have seen other instances where professional athletes are caught on tape degrading individuals of the other sex, or even partaking in the use of recreational drugs. Within U.S. society, professional, and in some instances collegiate athletes, are placed on top of a pedestal that makes them believe certain behaviors are permissible due to their status. With sport being so huge in the U.S. (a multi-billion dollar industry), it is important for professional and collegiate athletes to understand how their actions can ultimately effect the youth of today. A specific example of this is the use of performance enhancing drugs at the professional levels and the mirroring that takes place at the collegiate and high school levels. A way to resolve this issue is to provide both professional and collegiate athletes educational courses on how influential they are, how their actions lead to mirroring, and how they can be the positive role models to young and aspiring athletes. By providing these opportunities (conduct and behavioral seminars/workshops), it is hoped that athletes at the professional and collegiate levels would understand that they always have eyes on them and that the way in which they act, talk, dress, and hold themselves, are things that the youth of today look to emulate. Athletes in the U.S. have a great amount of power that is attributed to their position, rank and status. It is important that athletes learn that at all times they must act, dress and behave in appropriate ways as many of the youth in America look up to these athletes in great awe. Implications In response to the aforementioned issues, we offer a few recommendations. In regards to the issue winning at all costs. It is necessary for there to be a cultural shift away from the philosophy of winning at all costs, and towards an ethically, and morally sound state where sport is competitive, but not to the extent of the pursuit of additional entities to achieve this desired success. We must promote VOL. 80, NO. 1
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competition, within certain parameters: equal playing field, playing your best against the best and the removal of physical and emotional harm to gain an advantage. There are horror stories of athletes targeting other athletes so that they can end the opposing athlete’s career, the use of drugs which have huge and highly stated detrimental effects to one’s health and athletes self-harming or even committing suicide due to the abuse the athlete receives. Adherence to all written and unwritten rules must be followed. When an individual takes part in a sport, they have signed a tacit agreement stating that they are to comply with all rules that are associated with the game. We must draw specific attention to this tacit agreement and make sure that athletes look to follow these rules and regulations set forth so that the true beauty of the sport may be performed/witnessed. In regards to the using of performance enhancing drugs in sport. Leagues and individual schools need to implement harsher penalties for users. The use of monetary penalties seem to do little in regards to dissuading athletes from using such drugs within professional ranks simply due to the fact they have large sums of money. Two forms of penalization that may have a better effect within the professional sport realm would be the termination of a contract or sponsorship, or sitting the athlete without pay for an extended period of time. Within high school and collegiate sport penalties should be either (a) removal from teams and/or programs, (b) reduction or removal of scholarship, and (c) the use of workshops and educational experiences so that the athlete can see first-hand the effect both physically, but mentally and socially also. Sport leaders must promote sport to be clean so that individual’s results and performances are not jaded due to the use of drugs. The use of professional athletes would be of high importance in this issue as many athletes look to mirror their most favorite and cherished athletes. Campaigns within high schools and colleges would assist with moving students away from using performance-enhancing drugs. Specific examples of athletes who have used drugs to enhance their performances and the guilt and repercussions of those instances would be a great form of dissuading future athletes from using such SPRING 2017