Pubdate: Thu, 18 Jul 2002
Source: Island Packet (SC)
Copyright: 2002,sThe Island Packet
Contact:  http://www.islandpacket.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1514

SELECTIVE DRUG TESTING NOT NECESSARY IN SCHOOLS

Rules Already In Place That Punish Drug Abuse Fairly

Local schools should not do random drug tests on students participating in 
extracurricular activities, despite a court ruling giving them that right.

The Beaufort County School District already has in place a clear and 
appropriately punitive policy against possession or use of drugs on campus 
or at school-sponsored events.

Beyond that, Hilton Head High School has used random, unannounced 
school-wide checks of lockers and cars with drug-sniffing dogs to reinforce 
to the students that drug abuse will not be tolerated.

Consistent enforcement of existing policy should suffice. It clearly 
outweighs the alternative approved by the U.S. Supreme Court: random drug 
tests for a select group of students when there is no suspicion of wrongdoing.

Students involved in extracurricular activities are already held to higher 
standards. They must meet grade requirements higher than the general 
student body. And they are already under greater scrutiny by adults. They 
are subjected to school policies, including the anti-drug policies, for 
many more hours of each day and week, and many of their weekends are spent 
at school-sponsored events.

We believe that it is a privilege to represent the school in 
extracurricular activities, not a right. But there are plenty of ways to 
ensure that the privilege is being lived up to without subjecting the 
students to suspicionless testing. Students should be encouraged in every 
way possible to get involved in extracurricular activities, and singling 
them out for unequal treatment is not a way to encourage participation.

There is also the matter of the expense of the tests, and the time the 
testing would take away from educators who are already stretched too thin.

And it raises the question of how much of the parental role the schools are 
going to be forced to take on. There are proven, successful anti-drug 
programs in use in public schools around the state of South Carolina that 
could be adopted here -- but they are centered around parents and the 
standards and savvy they exercise in the home.

Drug abuse -- particularly alcohol abuse -- is a significant issue at 
Hilton Head High and probably most schools nationwide, both public and private.

Rather than embark on unfair testing, teachers, coaches and administrators 
should be kept up to date on what to do when they suspect a child is 
abusing drugs. What is the procedure? When you suspect something, what do 
you do?

By no means do we advocate schools or parents who wink at drug abuse, hide 
their heads in the sand and fail to address the problem. We have supported 
prior efforts to hold students accountable and eliminate loopholes in drug 
policy enforcement.

But the schools have tools in place to do address the issue without 
resorting to suspicionless drug tests. And there is plenty more that 
parents can do if they so choose.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens