Steroids and banned substance scandals are wrecking games all over the world. In today’s competitive sporting arena athletes are driven to use these performance enhancers to gain an advantage. But is it fair? The stakes are high when it comes to pro-baseball and the like but should athletes be allowed to use these substances before taking the field?

I think not. Games are made of athletes with various talents. Most athletes do not take steroids and stick to the rules. Therefore when faced with athletes who use these substances, their chances of moving ahead in their careers are stunted. They have no chance of getting their names into the hall of fame or becoming superstars. Is that fair? I don’t think it is. This kind of use of illegal drugs is damaging to the integrity and to the value of the game. A classic example would be a batter facing a pitcher who is on steroids. The pitcher has an advantage over the batter and it’s illegal. But the pitcher moves on and makes record after record. It really isn’t fair.

This also brings up the question of whether we are teaching our young kinds the right thing. Is it do whatever it takes, no matter what to get ahead in life or to do the right thing and work your hardest to get ahead in life? Kids use athletes as role models and it can be an extremely negative influence on our kids if illegal use of performance enhancing drugs or anything for that matter goes unpunished.

 I strongly disagree with athletes, no matter what sport they play, using drugs. Most athletes train hard and push themselves to the limit or beyond the limit to get to where they are and they deserve to be among the best as much as anyone else. Gaining an advantage by using performance enhancers is just not the right way to do things.