Test student athletes for steroids?

NEWS FACT: In December, New Jersey enacted a state law that calls for the random steroids testing of high school athletes whose teams qualify for championship games. New Jersey is the first U.S. state to pass such a law.

In a 2004 study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 3.4 percent of high school seniors admitted to having used steroids at least once. Steroids--an artificial form of the male hormone testosterone (tes-TAHS-tuh-rone)--trick cells into producing more muscle proteins. Since the drugs can increase an individual's strength, speed, and size, they may give athletes an unfair advantage.

Steroids can also be dangerous. Prolonged use may lead to depression or other serious illnesses, such as liver and heart disease.

Drastic physical changes in a student can cause coaches to worry about steroid abuse. However, a study by The Dallas Morning News found that fear of being sued makes many coaches unlikely to confront students suspected of using steroids, or those students' parents. Testing in New Jersey's schools will take place without the consent of teachers or parents.

What do you think? Should high schools test athletes for steroids?

Yes

In professional sports, drug testing exists to promote fair play. It is common for Olympic and pro athletes, and has decreased the rate of steroid use among college football players. Announcing New Jersey's program, then-Governor Richard Codey called steroid use "a growing public-health threat, one we can't leave up to individual parents, coaches, or schools to handle."

Athletics offer kids a way to compete based on hard work and talent. But steroids change all that, says Kristin Campbell, 14. "High school students should be tested for steroids," says the Ontario, California, teen. "This is the time when they could be getting sports scholarships. [They shouldn't] be cheating their way to free tuition."

No

Whether for grown-ups or kids, drug tests can be considered a violation of privacy. Should the majority be subjected to tests because of the actions of a few? "We live in a society where you are innocent until proven guilty," says Deborah Jacobs, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Jersey. "But this [drug-testing] law says you are guilty until proven innocent. It sends the wrong message to kids."

Michael Cappetta, 15, of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, thinks that the $50,000 set aside for testing could be better used elsewhere. "There are priorities for most school districts," he says, "that should come above spending money on drug testing."