Pubdate: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 Source: Johnson City Press (TN) Copyright: 2006 Johnson City Press Contact: http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1983 Author: Sam Watson Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) PROPOSED DRUG TESTING - SOME ATHLETES AT SHHS OK WITH PLAN Surrendering privacy and trust aside, some Science Hill High School student-athletes say they support Science Hill High School's quest to start testing them for drugs. "I can see where it is an invasion of someone's privacy, but at the same time, we're representing Science Hill," basketball standout Ashley Menner said. "So, I'm up for it. I agree with it." If the Johnson City Board of Education approves the Athletic Committee's latest proposal, the high school would randomly test 30 students per month out of about 800 participants in the school's extracurricular sports programs. Science Hill trainer Mark "Doc" McDonald said the committee first discussed testing in 2001 and brought it back up last spring after coaches increasingly heard reports of drug abuse among some athletes. "I don't think you can identify one case, but through second-hand accounts, they're hearing things about the need to change some of the kids' behaviors," McDonald said. "This is one way to address it." Though the program would reach less than half the pool each year, school officials hope the prospect of a random test would be enough of a deterrent for students. "Some kids may think, 'My chances of getting picked are so small that I'm going to go ahead and do what I want,' but hopefully for that kid who is on the fringe and not wanting to do it, now they have another reason to say no," McDonald said. Science Hill senior football and baseball player Justice Joslin, 18, would graduate before the tests were implemented, but he supports the idea since he knows some athletes who use drugs, even if they represent a small percentage of his peers. "It's kind of a good idea, just because you shouldn't have people on drugs, especially in high school playing sports and that kind of deal," Joslin said. "There are also the kids who don't do drugs who could feel like the school doesn't trust them, but there are kids who do. "I know some of them, and I think they should be tested, but overall, there are more kids who don't do drugs than do in our school." Most students should have nothing to fear from random tests, Menner said. "If you have nothing to hide -- if you're keeping your nose clean and you're doing what you should - you shouldn't have to worry about that," she said. "For the most part, I don't think a lot of Science Hill students will have to worry about it, but there are a select few who will." Menner, a junior, said the school, not just the student, suffers from drug use. "Science Hill wants to portray a good image to the community, especially among our athletes," she said. "Having them doing drugs does not portray the image we want at Science Hill." Sophomores Solomon Duanah and Corey Hamilton, both 16, said they would have no problem with submitting to random tests. "I've got no problem with it, because I don't do drugs," Duanah said. "They can go ahead and do that. It's all right with me. "I know some people who mess around like that. The school should do that, because I know some people who could be really good in sports, but they're messing up by doing drugs and stuff like that, and they're messing up our team, too, by doing that." Hamilton said he did not think he had been let down by teammates who use drugs, but the performance could be affected, so he would support the testing program. "I think they should do it, because people who do drugs hurt the team and everything like that," he said. "School grades go down." Would the tests amount to unfair invasion for someone who had done nothing wrong or had shown no signs of using drugs? "In a way it is, but I don't know," Duanah said. "It is a little bit, but you've got to do that if you really care about that person. You've got to do stuff like that." When the Athletic Committee proposed the testing program in February, the school board agreed to conduct a workshop on the subject before its April 3 meeting. In that workshop, board members asked staff members to look into whether it was feasible to expand the tests to other extracurricular activities, such as band and chorus, to involve more students and not single out athletes. So, are athletes any more likely to use drugs than other students? "Not necessarily so," Science Hill Principal David Chupa said. "I think it's equal across the student population. But we know there's not much case law to support testing the whole student population. We know there is very specific case law for supporting the random testing of athletes." That's because athletic participation is voluntary. Students do not receive grades for playing sports. If drug testing were required to participate in a band concert, for example, a student's grade could be affected, if that concert were part of academic requirements. Chupa said the staff would have to look outside the area to find schools that test students in other extracurricular activities to research the academic implications and the legal issues involved. "It's a complex issue that I don't think we'll find an answer to (before the board considers the proposal), Chupa said. Plus, a larger pool of students would alter the program's scope, administration and costs. "I appreciate the fact that the board wants to be broader, because I want to do anything we can to protect students from participating in the use of drugs," Chupa said, "but we want to make sure it's a smooth operation and an operation we can conduct in an appropriate fashion." McDonald said the athletic proposal would cost between $7,500 and $8,000 per year. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek