Pubdate: Thu, 31 Jul 2008 Source: West Hawaii Today (HI) Copyright: 2008 West Hawaii Today Contact: http://westhawaiitoday.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/644 Author: Shawn Lathrop WHAT DO THEY FEAR? Once again the local papers are abuzz with letters regarding the drug testing of teachers. When I was an employee of the Department of Education, I wrote several letters to this paper and other publications stating that I support drug testing and have always been and will always be willing to submit to a random test -- at any time, in any place. If you don't have anything to hide, then you shouldn't be afraid of the testing. In response to letters which claim that the civil rights of teachers are being violated, I must ask what about the civil rights of our children in school? Don't they have the right to be taught by a teacher who is drug-free? Don't they have a right to be told by a teacher that drugs are bad and know for a fact that the teacher practices what he or she preaches? Don't parents have the right to know that their children's classrooms aren't being used to move drugs and that their children aren't being exposed to dangerous people associated with drugs? Considering the correlation between drug use (especially "ice") and other crimes including assaults, robberies and even sexual crimes, teachers who indulge in such a lifestyle put children at risk. Let's remember who is most vulnerable here: the children. After all, they don't have a union to represent them. Shawn Lathrop Waikoloa - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin