Random Drug Testing Should Create Uproar
This
letter is written in response to a recent decision of the Upper
Freehold Regional School District Board of Education to formulate a
policy to conduct random drug testing in Allentown High School (AHS).
The plan would affect students wanting to participate in
extracurricular activities, attend prom or park in the senior parking
lot. So already, the testing isn't random- the school is specifying a
select group of students who will have to go through with it.
AHS Vice Principal Brian Myslinksi stated that there would be no
disciplinary consequences except that students who test positive or
refuse the test would lose the "privilege" to be in extracurricular
activities.
Dr. Howard Taras, chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics:
Committee on School Health, stated that "Drug testing may decrease
involvement in extracurricular activities among students who regularly
use or have once used drugs. Without engagement in healthy activities,
adolescents are more likely to drop out of school, become pregnant,
join gangs, pursue substance abuse and engage in other risky
behaviors."
A 2003 study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the University
of Michigan showed that random drug testing does not decrease the
amount of students using drugs. The study also found that only 5
percent of schools in the nation are testing and of those 5 percent
only 2 percent test for clubs outside of athletics.
And what about false positives? The Discovery Channel "Mythbusters"
showed that people could test positive for drug tests simply by
consuming poppy seed bagels.
There is not enough money in the district budget for this. According to
Superintendent Richard Fitzpatrick, "There were $1.5 million worth of
things that the administrators asked for, but we only have $500,000 we
can spend." Priority one budgetary items are $261,925 in excess of the
allotted cap increase. Allentown residents have an averaged expected
property tax increase of $200 to fund the new budget.
A nearby school pays $27 a sample to have results of the drug test
verified. If there were just 10 random tests at this price at AHS (with
10 percent of involved students sampled per test) it would cost
$22,950. And there are notions of conducting this test every week. Do
the outdated textbooks, greasy cafeterias, sloppy bathrooms, and
unaffordable budget show that the district has plenty of cash to throw
around?
Perhaps administrators will offer to take salary cuts to fund the drug
testing (as their retirement package got $200,000 of additional funding
under the new budget) or even submit to random tests themselves. Or
perhaps the Board of Education will expect students to take cuts in
actual education while passing more of the burden along to the
taxpayer. A grant might sustain some of the costs, but it is only a
temporary fix for what is likely to become a constant money hole.
But neither drugs nor money is the central theme of this issue.
Personal privacy is. And everywhere at AHS, students are getting less
and less. Cameras around every corner, the overzealous barracuda Web
filter, Edline (your report card on the Internet!), debit cards that
keep track of lunchtime purchases, locker searches, and SynchronEYES-
the program where teachers and administrators can watch whatever you
email or type on the computer.
When you get down to it, random drug testing is simply a gateway drug
to students having less privacy. We used to be protected under the
fourth amendment against "unreasonable search and seizure." When will
enough be enough?
Random drug testing is simply a bad idea. It has shown no effectiveness
to decrease drug use and might actually increase it. The constant
amount of funding required only drains money that could go directly to
improving a child's education. And, above all else, it's a gateway drug
to the continued mitigation of student privacy.
Fitzpatrick said that random drug testing should be implemented as soon
as possible without "causing an uproar in the community." I implore the
students, parents, teachers, and taxpayers of the community to stand
together and cause an uproar.
About the author: Brendan Benedict is a Senior at Allentown High School. He along with many of his classmates have organized Students Morally Against Random Testing (SMART) to combat the plans of school bureaucrats to randomly drug test all students. The Upper Freehold Board of Education will be voting on this issue on March 19th. Your support at the meeting would be helpful.
