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 Educate
Children/Students/Athletes with Facts
to Discourage Drug Use & Praise Who
They Are!
by Deborah
Cadorette (about
Deborah) 
One way administrators, coaches, and
teachers can discourage drug use among
the student body is to acknowledge a
student’s ability to make wise
decisions based on facts. Students/athletes
require facts. Students/athletes deserve
to be informed of the effect particular
drugs can have on a healthy body part,
and how those parts function under the
influence of particular drugs. Educators
support the use of critical thinking
skills. Critical thinking involves reasoning
based on facts and perceived consequences.
We must inform our children/students/
athletes about normal physiological
functions and the interference particular
drugs can have on these functions. Only
when they are able to make reasonable
decisions about drug use based on facts
can we release them in the world.
An excellent resource for facts about
drugs is Buzzed:
The Straight Facts About the Most Used
and Abused Drugs from Alcohol to Ecstasy,
written by Kuhn, Swartzwelder, and Wilson.
By equipping themselves with this knowledge,
adults can prepare themselves to instruct
youth on how to make meaningful discussions
based on accurate information about
drugs damaging effects on physiological
functions.
Parents/Teachers/Coaches may also be
a powerful influence in discouraging
drug use if they accept children/students/athletes
for who they are. Acknowledge students
as human spiritual beings. Students/athletes
are less likely to desire to escape
who they are when they are respected
as individuals. This month, in honoring
'drug free environments for our students,'
I’ve selected a research article
and two books on motivation that support
building positive environments in which
people can feel worthy and function
effectively.
There is an article in the Harvard
Business Review titled The
Making of a Corporate Athlete
where Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz explain
how corporate management sought to determine
why some people (coaches/athletes) function
more efficiently in pressure situations
than others (coaches/athletes). In addition,
Stephen Covey, author of The
7 Habits of Highly Effective People
and The
8th Habit, has developed motivational
theories that may also influence athletic
performance.
Loehr and Schwartz discuss problematic
approaches used by executives in dealing
with people in the work place. Executives
often deal with their employees from
the neck up, connecting high performance
primarily with cognitive capacity. One
may consider a similar analogy with
coaches and athletes. Coaches may experience
a lack of initiative and motivation
when they only deal with the athletes
from the neck down. A dog can be physically
conditioned and taught to demonstrate
specific behaviors in response to signals.
Authoritative style coaches who “bark”
commands at their athletes without allowing
them to interact or respond with critical
inquiries are limiting the performance
capabilities of their athletes. Human
beings are much more complex, possessing
an emotional intelligence that could
fuel high performance if acknowledged
and respected.
Interestingly enough, in The 8th
Habit, Stephen R. Covey writes
about employers who treat people as
things. Covey describes things as “part-persons”
because the whole person is not being
addressed. He goes on to say that this
paradigm exists in the workplace where
people are treated as things and ultimately
controlled, rather than inspired to
become all they are capable of being.
Covey says,
“It stems from an incomplete
paradigm of who we are - our fundamental
view of human nature. The fundamental
reality is, human beings are not things
needing to be motivated and controlled;
they are four dimensional - body, mind,
heart, and spirit. If you study all
philosophy and religion, both Western
and Eastern from the beginning of recorded
history, you’ll basically find
the same four dimensions.” 1
1
Covey, Stephen R. The
8th Habit (New York, New York: Free
Press, 2004) p. 21,22
Covey argues that people, who are endowed
with the capacity to make choices are
constantly doing so; something that
coaches need to realize. According to
Covey people have six choices they respond
to when directed (coached/led) whether
they are aware of it or not. People
(athletes) decide how much effort or
attention they will give their work
by the way they are treated, based on
the opportunities generated to use all
four dimensions of their being. Choices
are divided into the following six categories.
You should be able to recognize the
categories your individual athletes
identify with.
1. Rebel or Quit
2. Malicious obedience
3. Willing compliance
4. Cheerful cooperation
5. Heartfelt commitment
6. Creative excitement
As coaches we want our athletes in
categories 4-6, leaning toward the latter.
With this thought, the whole person
paradigm transfers into Whole-Athlete
Coaching (diagram following article)
by giving conscientious consideration
to the following four areas of each
athlete:
Mind: Allow me to
think and make decisions in games
High school coaches have a unique opportunity
to support academic skills. Our students
must maintain eligibility to participate.
Teachers inspire students to think in
class. It’s welcomed and rewarded.
Coaches have the opportunity to inspire
their athletes to think. Some coaches
become angry and offended when an athlete
has a thought and makes a suggestion.
That suggestion may improve performance
and the outcome of a situation. Our
athletes are exposed to more information
than any other generation before. By
the time an athlete enters high school
many of them have also played on travel
teams and attended summer camps. Some
of these athletes may have received
elite coaching and been exposed to drills
and techniques that their high school
coach may not know about.
Provide opportunities for athletes
to contribute to the program with suggestions.
As coaches we should be encouraging
athletes to think and provide feedback.
Unfortunately, the single most popular
cause of discouraging this level of
thinking and performance in the athletic
arena is the ego of the coach wanting
to be in a position of power and control.
Body: Allow me to
participate rather than stand on the
sidelines
There are athletes who see very little
playing time, yet commit hours a day
to practice in order to prepare themselves
for competition. What motivates these
athletes day after day when they know
they are not going to play in a game?
When ever possible coaches should create
an opportunity to put an athlete into
the game, even if for only a couple
of minutes! Be wise about timing and
placement, but put them in the game,
particularly the seasoned athletes who
may not be starting. A few years ago
I had the pleasure and benefit of hearing
an exceptionally motivating coach speak
at a NASPE conference on methods of
motivation. “I never lost a game
in the first two minutes!” he
told the audience with excited eyes
and a contagious smile. He started athletes
who otherwise may never play in the
game. It gave his starting athletes
a hunger to get into the game and kept
his non-starters highly motivated every
practice day.
Heart: Respect me
as a human being
Respectful behaviors should be the
norm, expected of every employee, participant
and spectator in the school community.
The coach used in the example above
also made certain to address every athlete
by name in every practice, every day.
Think about it. How often do you greet
every athlete committed to your program?
How often do you thank them for being
involved? It takes minimal time to say
hello to each athlete, using his or
her name. This is easily accomplished
if the coach is by the door when athletes
arrive. This action will also encourage
them to be punctual to practice as they
know the coach will be waiting to greet
them. Thank them genuinely for who they
are and being part of your program.
Spirit: Model ethical
thoughts and actions and expect it of
me
Hold athletes accountable for ethical
behaviors. Teach them to help an opponent
up from the ground or floor, and congratulate
the performance of the opponent when
it is warranted. Always praise an athlete
when they’ve done something right
or worthy of praise. Learn about their
accomplishments off the field and acknowledge
them for it. Give your athletes responsibilities
that may help them learn the game through
your eyes. Many of your athletes will
never play sports in college, yet will
move on to become coaches. Our athletes
need role models worthy of exemplifying.
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