Pubdate: Mon, 01 Jul 2002 Source: Athens Banner-Herald (GA) Copyright: 2002 Athens Newspapers Inc Contact: http://www.onlineathens.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1535 SCHOOL OFFICIALS NEED TO INCLUDE PARENTS IN DRUG TESTING DECISIONS The U.S. Supreme Court's decision last week making way for widespread drug testing in the nation's public schools could soon hit home for Clarke County students, parents and school officials. In the 5-4 ruling, the court found schools' need to purge illicit drugs from their campuses trumps students' right to privacy -- regardless of whether there is any reason to believe a student may be using drugs. The judgment upheld an Oklahoma school district's policy for testing students who participate in competitive after-school activities or teams. A previous ruling had established the constitutionality of testing only student athletes. The Clarke County School District has, for some time, considered expanding its anti-drug efforts through the use of drug-detection dogs and increased testing. Police dogs could be used as early as this fall for random searches of lockers and student cars for the presence of drugs. Clarke school officials also have been interested in broadening the current drug testing of athletes to also include any student who drives to school. Concerns about the constitutionality of such suspicionless searches had kept school officials from enacting the drug policy change, but, after last week's Supreme Court decision, discussions are expected to pick up momentum. That's welcome news to those parents who believe a serious drug problem exists in our schools and that widespread drug testing may be the only solution. Not everyone is pleased by the Supreme Court ruling. Even though legal issues may now be resolved, school drug testing still evokes concerns in the minds of many people. No matter how compelling the reasons, forcing students to submit to drug tests is seen by some to be a degrading and humiliating invasion of an individual's most private possession, his/her body. If made to choose between taking a drug test and not participating in extracurricular activities, some students may opt to protect their privacy even if it means missing out on a positive opportunity. Still others may be uncomfortable with the idea of leaving parents out of the decision-making process on such an important issue. After all, parents have to give permission for their child to go on a field trip, to be given an aspirin, to attend sex education classes or to be vaccinated against disease. If those things warrant parent approval, shouldn't a drug test on their child's urine also qualify? We believe school officials should give serious consideration to granting parents the right to choose whether their child should be included in any drug testing program. As discussions about expanded drug testing in Clarke County public schools pick up again, we encourage parents and students to work closely with school officials to find the least intrusive way of keeping drugs out of our schools. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom