Priestess Angel

Hello everyone! Now, I don’t know about other countries but many schools in the U.S. have mandatory drug testing sometimes in schools that don’t really have a drug problem. Basically, every few weeks they will call a list of randomly selected names and these people will be drug tested. Sometimes it will consist of urinating in a cup. Sometimes your clothes and/or drugs will be searched. Sometimes a police dog will be taken through the school and will sniff around. It usually depends on how bad the drug problem is at school.

Now, my question to you guys is this. Do you think it’s right for the government to do this? That it’s a good thing that the government is trying to keep drugs out of school. Or are you against it? Do you think that it is a major violation of privacy and that privacy should be respected?

To me, I think it’s a good thing. The government in my mind should make an effort to keep drugs out of schools. I do think, though, that the kind of drug tests used should depend on how big the drug problem at the school. I mean what’s the point in searching every student and making someone strip in search of drugs if the school has a next-to-none drug problem??

So guys, tell me your thoughts.

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fireandice

When I went to school the only ones that had to take those type of tests were the athletes. Being one myself, I never had a problem in taking the tests. So I see nothing really wrong with the test being done in the schools all the time. Though, I do agree with it should be along the lines of how bad the drug problem is in that area. It's kinda pointless to do extensive drug searches when there really isn't much of a problem. It's a waste of time and money, but if the drug problem is extreamly high then those type of things are nessary. So yes I would say that drug testing in schools is a good thing, or atleast it isn't hurting anyone.

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tsurara

absolutely not.

We can't search people's homes without warrants. We shouldn't be able beat or shoot unarmed people because they ~might~ resist arrest.

Punishing students who have committed no offense by submitting having them yank out their hair or pee in cups once a week and worry if the nyquil they drank last night or the marajuana brownie their big brother fed them as a joke is going to get them kicked out of school.

We shouldn't be treating schools like hotbeds for criminal activity. If there is reason to suspect someone, go from there. Making every single student submit to a potentially humiliating and totally unwarranted breech of privacy simply out of policy is inane.

What next? Accessing our google search histories to see if we've ever cheated on our homework online, lied about our age on myspace or talked about shooting teachers? Kicking kids out of school for singing "light a match and watch it burn" (something we've been singing for YEARS and YEARS)? ...though I suppose some schools are already doing this stuff...

People need to stop jumping at shadows. Shit happens. It always has and it always will. We can't protect our children from THEMSELVES. They need to make mistakes, learn from them and be accountable for them as inviduals. Treating our kids like criminals or hubcaps coming out of an assemblyline isn't doing anyone any favors. Nor is hyperventalating at every potential danger to them ("anon", jenkem, huffing magic markers, choking on bottle caps, wheels in their shoes, snowboarding, toad-licking, etc. etc.) isn't going to help: it's only going to create a more frightening, oppressive and (dare I say) facist enviornment in which to grow up.

Kids NEED to make mistakes to learn how to live their lives.

The answer isn't making it impossible for them to make mistakes... it's making them accountable when they're caught.

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Akura13

Deffinatly not! Like tsurara said, they shouldn't make kids feel like they're in prison! A few schools around my city are doing that, and I think it's rediculouse! They haven't come to my school though, all they do at most schools is get a drug dog in to sniff the lockers and classrooms! But seriously, they should leave kids alone, let them choose they're own path for if they want to take drugs or not.

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Astaroth

I only agree with the god searching the school lockers...and the rest in my opinion is definitely a violation of privacy....
I remember when back in high school......I saw the police guy with the dog searching the lockers and the dog definitely started barking and scratching at one of the lockers and they found a whole bag of cocaine.......I was so shocked....I was absolutely speechless.....it was completely insane..why would somebody bring cocaine into the school...are they really that pathetic?......
So the dog searching process is very good in my opinion!!!!

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Miroku4444

God searches School lockers? No kidding?? Man that must be a Bit** to get caught by god with drugs in you locker. *In a deep voice* "You just bought yourself a one way ticket to hell mister".



Hell no, all this Mandatory Drug Tests **** is wrong. It should be like in my days, only done when a problem was suspected. Just an invasion of their privacy.

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Priestess Angel

Very good points. I will say that it doesn’t make much sense to me to pass these sort of tests if the problem isn’t that bad. My school doesn’t have a major drug problem but we still have police dogs visit my school to search bags and lockers. It is very seldom when they do that. The usual test is urinating in the cup.

I think a lot of the reason that schools that don’t really have drug problems do them anyway is for image. If a school takes constant drug tests but never gets a bad result then that gives a really good image to that school. Which is pretty twisted, I know.

But it does make sense to me for them to do these tests when the school has a major drug problem.

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Descended From Darkness

It's a violation of privacy, that's what it is. We had a similar arguement in my Government class last year. One of the idiots er I mean kids in my class said that if you have nothing to hide then take the test. Only a wimp would refuse to take it. What kids, teachers, parents and even principals don't realize is that the 4th amendment prohibits anything like that. Just because prinicpals and teachers have probable suspicision does not give them the right to go through peoples things. What most people don't get is that you have the right to refuse having your stuff looked through and you can deny a drug testing. Sure you'll look suspcious but you shouldn't. It's same with the police. You can refuse to have your stuff looked through no one ever said you have to say yes.

I know however that they do it at my school. Yet Plano Sr. High doesn't really have a drug problem. Sure I may now kids who do drugs but no one is dumb enough to bring it to school. Sure this may keep the kids safer but at what cost? Is it really better to have this false sense of security while your basic rights are taken away?

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Priestess Angel

Yeah, they usually get around that with consent forms. So even if you do refuse you are still bound to that written agreement.

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Scourge

A mandatory drug test? No! Now if the school suspects something about a student or a group of students that has gone on for some time, then I think the school should send a consent form to the kids parents asking if it was alright to do a drug test and have the child made known that this is going on. Now if they sent out a consent form to the parents of the kids in question then I can see it being as alright. If the parents say yes, then it will be up to the child to have the finle say yes or no. If the child doesnt use drugs then what do they have to worry about? But if they say no then the child will be made known that he/she will continue to be watched over by their teachers while they are in class until they believe you are infact clean.