Pubdate: Fri, 05 Jul 2002
Source: Herald, The (SC)
Copyright: 2002 The Herald
Contact:  http://www.heraldonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/369
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

STUDENT RIGHTS GET TRASHED

If the 97-pound weakling freshman bulks up to 250 pounds by his sophomore 
year and starts tossing barbells around the weight room, test him for 
steroids. If the head cheerleader's pupils are the size of saucers, by all 
means give her a drug test. But a policy of making every student who 
participates in extra-curricular activities subject to random drug tests 
strikes us as a violation of their civil rights - and stupid to boot.

The U.S. Supreme Court last week ruled against a former Oklahoma high 
school honor student who tested negative for drugs but sued over what she 
said was a humiliating, accusatory policy. Her crime? Singing in the school 
choir and competing on an academic quiz team. "We find that testing 
students who participate in extracurricular activities is a reasonably 
effective means of addressing the school district's legitimate concerns in 
preventing, deterring and detecting drug use," Justice Clarence Thomas 
wrote for the majority in the 5-4 decision.

We agree with dissenting Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who said the program 
the court upheld was unreasonable, capricious and perverse. Why? Because 
the only students in American public schools not potentially subject to 
random drug testing are those who don't participate in extracurricular 
activities. That's stupid.

Some school districts jumped on this slippery slope years ago when they 
required drug-testing for athletes on grounds they could hurt themselves or 
others if they played or practiced while under the influence of drugs or 
alcohol. That makes sense. It's the same rationale police departments and 
trucking firms follow when they conduct random drug tests of employees.

But to force a youth to urinate in a bottle just because he or she wants to 
play the clarinet in the school band or join the chess club amounts to an 
unreasonable search and seizure, in our opinion.
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MAP posted-by: Ariel