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School Drug Testing Violates Rights
Pubdate: Fri, 06 Sep 2002
Source: Daily Iowan, The (IA Edu)
Copyright: 2002 The Daily Iowan
Contact: http://www.dailyiowan.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/937
Author: Katherine Peterson
Note: Katherine Peterson is a DI columnist.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)
SCHOOL DRUG TESTING VIOLATES RIGHTS
Our government has chosen to ignore our fundamental rights as
citizens, the very civil liberties for which our country stands, in a
hopeless attempt to curb the problem of drug use in public schools
with random drug testing.
I question the constitutional rights that define our freedom when
random drug testing clearly violates our personal rights written in
the Fourth Amendment in the Constitution. The amendment states that
U.S. citizens should be protected against unreasonable search and
seizure. The amendment then states that there must be a clear reason
or individualized suspicion when a search does occur. The public
schools in the United States are funded by the government, and the act
of mandatory drug testing clearly endangers constitutional democracy
and destroys my idea of what it means to be an American. The rights
our Founding Fathers guaranteed should be defended.
Such an accusatory policy is an unwarranted invasion of privacy.
Students fear the possibility that deeply personal information will
not be kept confidential, such as prescription drugs that easily
appear when a drug test is given. The government is unrightfully
intruding into the lives and privacy of the youth in this country.
I fear that by implementing random drug testing in our schools, we run
the risk of ruining genuine relationships that exist among the
administration and students. The students are seen as guilty until
they prove their innocence by presenting a clean urine sample. As far
as I know, the law always said it was the other way around. A policy
such as this may extinguish the trust in schools that is so difficult
to establish.
I wonder how our government can spend so much energy on the problem of
drug abuse when it is alcohol that is actually killing youth in this
country. In fact, government reports indicate that teen drug use is on
the decline. There are clearly larger problems that need to be
examined before we begin stripping our youth of their innocence by
forcing them to take urine tests in an institution in which they are
supposed to feel comfortable.
Money does not grow on trees. Drug tests are horribly expensive. I can
only imagine what funds will be cut to support such an
unconstitutional purpose.
Those in favor of random drug testing within our schools argue that
such an idea will create safer environments for our children. This is
not entirely true. Random drug testing has absolutely no effect on the
drug use that occurs within a school. In fact, there is no evidence
that proves that drug use is lower in schools with random drug testing
than those without.
I imagine a drug-prevention program that emphasizes the consequences
of using drugs might be more effective than a threat such as drug
testing. An ideal situation would be students saying no to drugs
because they have a choice in the matter and have chosen not to use
drugs instead of a constant intimidation such as drug screening. It is
ridiculous to believe that such an approach will magically rid our
country of drug use. Choice is more powerful than force.
Random drug testing is invasive and unconstitutional in government-
funded institutions such as the public schools. The purpose of a
school is to simply educate. When an individual is regulated and
controlled, it is only human nature to resist that confinement. Such
an attempt may actually be counterproductive, leaving students
cautious of the intentions of people they are supposed to trust. The
truth is that such testing does not result in drug-free schools but
only produces a population of humiliated, angry, and fearful students.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake