Random drug testing in our school system cannot be the answer to the problem of drug abuse. To think that those students who participate in athletics or extracurricular activities or drive to school are the core population of students that the school administration is trying to identify; or that singling out this group will have any significant impact on the problem is ridiculous. Our schools are a microcosm of our community and society, and solving the problems within the school system requires that the planners understand the community in which their students live.

The principal of problem solving is not rocket science. First, recognize that there is a problem; then, define the problem; and then, develop a plan to solve the problem. Experts in the study of drug interdiction strongly urge school systems that are considering a random drug screening programs to do so cautiously. A study committee should be formed with members of the administration, drug counselors, social workers, law enforcement, parents, teachers, students and the public. A viable approach to this issue cannot be formulated by a group composed of a few coaches, an administrator, a principal and a scant number of “concerned” citizens. This issue is too important and our students too precious to adopt a reactive rather than proactive policy without due diligence.

Studies have found that random drug testing within the schools does not have an impact on illicit drug use by the students. The American Academy of Pediatrics believes random student drug testing “cannot work in the way it is hoped to and will, for many adolescents, interfere with more sound prevention and treatment processes.”

According to the Association of Addiction Professionals, “At-risk and marginal students need the support systems and mentoring relationships that extracurricular activities provide. Excluding students who test positive for drugs will likely exacerbate their problem.” One Supreme Court justice has noted in a recent opinion that, “[Drug testing] invades the privacy of students who need deterrence least, and risks steering students at greatest risk for substance abuse away from extracurricular involvement that potentially may [cover up] drug problems.”

This policy assumes that all students are using drugs and despite their effort to identify the perpetrators they will miss the most common and potentially deadly drug of choice of this age group and that is alcohol — not detected by urine drug testing. Many of the western states that have been fighting a battle against methamphetamine abuse have found that their greatest weapon has been education. If the school administration believes, as it has stated, that TCHS is about building relationships with the students, then they should take note that experts in the field believe that drug testing works to undermine student-teacher relationships by pitting students against the teachers and coaches who test them, eroding trust and leaving students feeling ashamed and resentful. The American Academy of Pediatrics has gone so far as to say “A mandatory drug testing policy injects the school and its personnel, unnecessarily, into the realm where parental and medical judgment should be preeminent.”

Random drug testing is not without its own inherent problems: criteria for defining random populations, collection times and facilities, policy for witnessed testing, chain of custody, identification of adulterated specimens, and confidentiality. It is well known that there is no confidentiality within a student body. There will be legal challenges as the courts have had mixed opinions on this issue and there are legal challenges yet to be decided. There will be mistakes. There will be financial and emotional costs to both the system and the students. The cost vs. benefit of this program must be analyzed before it is initiated and before any adverse events occur.

Who will be responsible for the cost of the testing? Who will be responsible for the pre and post-testing counseling? Will counseling be made available to those families without health insurance or the ability to pay? Who will monitor the operation of the program? Who is going to answer and how are they going to answer the inevitable question from the students, “If we have to be tested what about the teachers, and the administrators, and the principals?”

Allow the teachers to teach. Demand that our teachers be role models and mentors not police officers or undercover drug agents. Make the schools a place to learn and an environment where children want to be — not afraid of. Please, ask the school board to review this flawed policy before they implement it. The school system should be in the business of education, so develop a “real” drug awareness program for our kids. They deserve it.

Tom Kraemer

Tifton