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The South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport wants permission from all schools in the country to test schoolchildren as often as possible for illegal performance-enhancing drugs. This comes after the revelation of a huge increase in schoolboy rugby players using illegal anabolic steroids.
Tests conducted by Joburg company Drug Detection International on pupils at 18 of the country?s top schools found 21 out of 130 pupils ? almost one in six ? tested positive for illegal steroids.
Commissioned independently by various schools, Drug Detection International sent urine samples for analysis to a forensic laboratory in the US.
They found positive results for two pupils of St Albans, Pretoria; three pupils of King Edward VII in Joburg; and found that one boy from St John?s in Joburg had twice the amount of testosterone levels for a teenager his age.
Fifteen of the other pupils who tested positive were from private schools in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. At least 12 were caught with banned steroids in their possession.
The Department of Basic Education, however, has not noted steroid use as a serious problem. The department doesn?t conduct drug tests for sport.
Director of the SA Institute for Drug-Free Sport Dr Shuaib Manjra said a comprehensive approach was required.
?The first is educating pupils about ethical sport; no dirty play, no racism, no cheating, no bribery and no doping,? said Manjra.
?We also need to teach pupils approaches to enhancing performance without using prohibited substances.?
Manjra added that the second step was to test in order to detect and deter those who cheat. ?Here we require the assistance of the schools, parents and coaches.
?We need a legislative framework or, alternatively, a consensus policy for all schools to abide by. Once we have jurisdiction, then we require resources to introduce these programmes into schools, this would include education, testing and prosecution. We also require parental consent,? he said.
With South Africa the only country on the continent to have a World Anti Doping Agency-accredited laboratory, Manjra said there was no need to send samples as far as the US to be tested.
Asked what he thought was the reason behind the increase in usage of steroids by school children, Manjra said he believed school sports had become much more competitive than ever before.
?Individuals who want an edge will try anything to succeed,? said Manjra.
?Many aspire to provincial and national contracts and thus look for shortcuts to get there. Then there is peer pressure and sometimes pressure from coaches and parents.
?Also remember it requires money to buy steroids, so kids need this disposable income. Many youths use steroids to enhance their image and are not necessarily involved in sport. Self-image is big in this group and they will pay anything to look better.?
He added that steroids were too easily available to schoolchildren. ?The market for steroids is huge and they are easily available from gymnasiums. Some shops which front as supplement stores also peddle steroids and other drugs. Unscrupulous pharmacists and doctors also dispense this stuff.
?Some come from legal sources such as pharmaceutical companies; others are manufactured in underground laboratories or imported from dodgy foreign operators via the internet.?
Manjra has also urged law enforcement agencies to do their bit. ?The fines for such offences must be increased; the police must be more active in this area; the customs officials need to be alert and intelligence agencies need to track the manufacture and supply of these products,? said Manjra.
Drug Detection International has said that the most common steroids used by schoolchildren are Boldenone, Mesterolone, Methan-drostenolone and Nandrolone.
Tests conducted by Joburg company Drug Detection International on pupils at 18 of the country?s top schools found 21 out of 130 pupils ? almost one in six ? tested positive for illegal steroids.
Commissioned independently by various schools, Drug Detection International sent urine samples for analysis to a forensic laboratory in the US.
They found positive results for two pupils of St Albans, Pretoria; three pupils of King Edward VII in Joburg; and found that one boy from St John?s in Joburg had twice the amount of testosterone levels for a teenager his age.
Fifteen of the other pupils who tested positive were from private schools in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. At least 12 were caught with banned steroids in their possession.
The Department of Basic Education, however, has not noted steroid use as a serious problem. The department doesn?t conduct drug tests for sport.
Director of the SA Institute for Drug-Free Sport Dr Shuaib Manjra said a comprehensive approach was required.
?The first is educating pupils about ethical sport; no dirty play, no racism, no cheating, no bribery and no doping,? said Manjra.
?We also need to teach pupils approaches to enhancing performance without using prohibited substances.?
Manjra added that the second step was to test in order to detect and deter those who cheat. ?Here we require the assistance of the schools, parents and coaches.
?We need a legislative framework or, alternatively, a consensus policy for all schools to abide by. Once we have jurisdiction, then we require resources to introduce these programmes into schools, this would include education, testing and prosecution. We also require parental consent,? he said.
With South Africa the only country on the continent to have a World Anti Doping Agency-accredited laboratory, Manjra said there was no need to send samples as far as the US to be tested.
Asked what he thought was the reason behind the increase in usage of steroids by school children, Manjra said he believed school sports had become much more competitive than ever before.
?Individuals who want an edge will try anything to succeed,? said Manjra.
?Many aspire to provincial and national contracts and thus look for shortcuts to get there. Then there is peer pressure and sometimes pressure from coaches and parents.
?Also remember it requires money to buy steroids, so kids need this disposable income. Many youths use steroids to enhance their image and are not necessarily involved in sport. Self-image is big in this group and they will pay anything to look better.?
He added that steroids were too easily available to schoolchildren. ?The market for steroids is huge and they are easily available from gymnasiums. Some shops which front as supplement stores also peddle steroids and other drugs. Unscrupulous pharmacists and doctors also dispense this stuff.
?Some come from legal sources such as pharmaceutical companies; others are manufactured in underground laboratories or imported from dodgy foreign operators via the internet.?
Manjra has also urged law enforcement agencies to do their bit. ?The fines for such offences must be increased; the police must be more active in this area; the customs officials need to be alert and intelligence agencies need to track the manufacture and supply of these products,? said Manjra.
Drug Detection International has said that the most common steroids used by schoolchildren are Boldenone, Mesterolone, Methan-drostenolone and Nandrolone.
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