Pubdate: Fri, 10 May 2013 Source: Orlando Sentinel (FL) Copyright: 2013 Orlando Sentinel Contact: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/325 Note: Rarely prints out-of-state LTEs. Author: Harold J. Krent Note: Guest columnist Harold J. Krent is dean and professor of law at Illinois Institute of Technology's Chicago-kent College of Law. Should Schools Drug-Test Students? RANDOM TESTING CAN SEND STUDENTS A HARMFUL MESSAGE The testing, therefore, may blunt the school's educational mission by elevating an atmosphere of discipline over one of nurturing. There is no place for drugs in school, and Lake Highland Preparatory, as a private school, has every legal right to subject its students to random drug testing. Although courts have held that random drug testing in public schools violates the Fourth Amendment, private schools are not bound by the constitutional provisions constraining public schools, such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion and the right to be free from unreasonable searches. Yet, the legality of random drug testing does not suggest its wisdom. The testing sends a poignant signal of mistrust to the school's students. The administration at Lake Highland Prep must believe that illegal drug use is so prevalent that everyone must be subject to search. It is not just that the administration's testing program will generate ill will, but that the students will be less likely to confide in teachers in the future. Teenagers often turn to teachers to share problems at home, problems with peers, issues of sexuality and questions about drug use as well. Students at schools with random drug testing may not be as willing to come forward. The testing, therefore, may blunt the school's educational mission by elevating an atmosphere of discipline over one of nurturing. The drawbacks of random drug testing extend further. Schools across the country struggle to teach their students appropriate boundaries about personal information. Privacy is important - even in this world of Instagram and Facebook. Schools instruct students that a public display today on Facebook may have serious repercussions down the road when college-admissions officers or prospective employers scan social media for information. Students should be concerned with allowing the details of their lives to be exposed and assessed by third parties, whether Facebook users or the company hired to perform the drug searches. An administration that does not appear to value students' privacy will have a harder time bringing home these lessons. Moreover, teachers should teach students not only about the students' own need for privacy, but about the importance of respecting their peers' privacy as well. An unthinking remark on line about a classmate can go viral. Teaching the value of privacy should be a fundamental goal. When schools invade the privacy of students to test for drugs, whether by collecting urine, blood or hair samples, the lesson is that privacy can be ignored for the sake of other goals. One of the most critical questions in our society today arises from the tension between privacy and collective security. Should law-enforcement officials be able to read emails, tap phones or access everyone's social-media accounts to enhance collective security? Should DNA be collected from everyone and entered into a national database so that law-enforcement officers can check for a match with DNA material left at the scene of a crime? Too often individual interests - whether autonomy or the right to be left alone - get lost in the shuffle. Society may benefit from preserving for individuals a safe space in which to create, vent or fantasize free from government oversight. And, data banks have been hacked with alarming frequency, resulting in public disclosure of private information. Schools should help students grapple with such difficult trade-offs, free from the distorting presence of their own random testing. To be sure, drug use can cripple a school's educational mission. Drug use impedes students' ability to learn, may harm their health and may compromise other students' efforts. But, random drug testing should be a last resort. By focusing on discipline rather than education, and by creating an adversarial relationship between students and administration, the testing can undermine a school's educational mission. As a result, students may not learn to respect the privacy of others and value privacy for themselves. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom