OF, BY AND FOR THE CHILDREN : ABC and CBS Address Two Tough Topics In The After-School Time Slot

CBS Schoolbreak Special provides a glimpse into steroid use by teen-agers, showing just how far one student will go to please his father. Peter Billingsley stars in the The Fourth Man as a slight but intelligent 16-year-old who takes steroids to improve his performance on the school track team and make his dad proud of him.

Tim Rossovich stars as the boy’s father, a former football star, and real former football star Lyle Alzado makes an appearance.

“CBS Schoolbreak Special,” Tuesday 3 p.m. CBS. For 13-to17 year-olds.

Meanwhile, at another high school in TV land, a different teen-ager gets in trouble even though he doesn’t use drugs. Testing Dirty, an ABC Afterschool Special, deals with an in-school random drug testing program that shows false positive results for one student-leaving his life in turmoil.

Christopher Daniel Barnes stars as the victimized student, with Alley Mills (from “The Wonder Years”) cast as his mother and Lisa Dean Ryan (from “Doogie Howser, M.D.”) as his girlfriend. A Martinez takes a break from “Santa Barbara” to play the lawyer who tries to get him off the hook.

MORE KIDS’ SHOWS

More Kids’ Shows What is PlataVision (Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 a.m. weekdays at 7:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. weekdays, KMEX)? It is a Spanish-speaking, animated and live-action children’s program hosted by the mythical Pepe Plata (pop singer Simon Maldonado), the world’s richest kid. The 90-minute block includes three animated and live-action segments: “C.O.P.”.” (daily at 7:30 a.m.) is show set in the future; “Adventures of Plata Hills” (weekends at 8 a.m. and weekdays at 3 p.m.) is about a group of well-to-do kids, and the live-action sitcom “The Pepe Plata Show” (weekends at 8:30 a.m. and weekdays at 3:30 p.m.), features a music video from Pepe each Friday. For 2- to 11-year-olds (with an emphasis on 6- to 11-year-olds).

The public TV series Long Ago & Far Away, which features fine adaptations of classic and new stories and legends, returns for a second season with the animated shows Beauty and the Beast (Sunday at 8 p.m. KCET), followed by Noah’s Ark (8:30 p.m.). James Earl Jones serves as host of both tales. For all ages.

Annette’s long gone, but Mickey Mouse Club (Weekdays at 5:30 p.m. The Disney Channel) lives on. The ‘90s version of the clean-cut kids show returns for its third season, promising upcoming guest stars such as Neil Patrick Harris and M.C. Hammer and segments on adult illiteracy and the Big Brother program. For 8- to 15-year-olds.

Gunplay: The Last Day in the Life of Brian Darling (Monday at 8 p.m. HBO) tells the true story of a 10-year-old boy who died playing with a handgun. Hosted by the boy’s father, John Darling, the film also provides handgun safety tips. For parents and children in the company of adults only.

Those lovable Muppets take a bite out of the Big Apple in the 1984 movie The Muppets Take Manhattan (Monday at 4 p.m. HBO). For all ages.

Based on characters from the Weekly Reader, a school newsweekly, KIDS-TV (Monday at 4 p.m. Showtime) is an ongoing puppet series about the crew of a TV news station. For 5- to 9-year-olds.

Matt Dillon and Chris Makepeace star in the film My Bodyguard (Wednesday at 9 p.m. CBS), a 1980 comedy/drama about an undersized high-school kid who hires some protection against the class bully. For 12- to 17-year-olds. Whoopi Goldberg stars as a guardian angel in Tales From the Whoop: Hot Rod Brown,,Class Clown (Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Nickelodeon), in which a student cut-up needs a little heavenly advice to help him make the grade. For 8- to 15-year-olds.