Youth and substance abuse in sport

There is also a tendency among today’s youths to adopt the ‘Nescafe Methodology’ – get quick results, and this, by any means necessary. The end justifies the means and who gets hurt in the process is immaterial.

In St Vincent and the Grenadines we are hearing of students carrying weapons of all sorts to school almost as if the mastery of weapons is part of the curriculum. We are hearing of increased violence at these institutions. Youths are killing each other without concern for the consequences.

The social fabric of Vincentian society has collapsed.

In a sense the situation among the world’s youth is not dissimilar to that which existed during the period of the latter part of the 19th century when de Coubertin, Brookes and Zappas, in different countries, all conceptualised sport as a means of saving youths from themselves and in the process, save society.

The growth of professionalism in sport has meant merely money in the pockets of the organisers, players, coaches and managers. The tendency towards greed has fuelled the desire to be at the top and enjoy the fruits regardless of the consequences. This is not in any way different from the greed that has driven entrepreneurs everywhere to cut corners to fill their pockets without regard for those over whose backs they climb or whose lives are impoverished in the process.

Today’s youths therefore see success as measured by the material possessions one is able to access in one’s lifetime such that he/she is able to become the envy of those around. 

Given the pervasive nature of illegal substance usage in sport one must be very concerned about the impact that it has on the youth of the world.

While the Olympic Ideals insist on participation and the joy of effort more and more we are witnessing the sad reality of former sporting heroes and heroines being exposed as cheats.

The ‘winning at all cost’ and ‘winning is everything’ syndrome is now as pervasive as participation itself. The youths watching sport are now left to accept that if the use of illegal substances is an access route to success in sport, to fame and glory, however transient, then it may well be worth it.

Rather interestingly we are now at a stage where some of the athletes and perpetrators of drugs in sport are clamouring for performance enhancing substances to become accepted practice in sport. They argue that the athlete must hav
e a favourable disposition to success in sport in order for the drugs to be of any use and therefore what we should focus on is the ability of any individual, even with the use of drugs, to break new barriers to man’s achievements.

Today’s youth, already oriented towards individual and social degradation, finds it easy to turn to drugs to do well and to gain social recognition.