DRUG TESTING GIVES KIDS HELP SAYING 'NO'

Students Say Random Drug Tests Can Seem Like Punishment, But
School Officials Say The Practice Helps

MUNCIE -- Kylie Dorton doesn't like the idea of schools testing
students for drugs. Dorton, a senior at Delta High School, has never
been tested, but because she is a student driver and an athlete she is
in the pool of students who could be randomly tested.

"I just don't think high school students should have to be put through
this at all," Dorton said.

While Dorton hasn't been tested, fellow senior Autumn Davis has. And
it wasn't a pleasant experience, she recalled. The principal or school
security guard goes to classrooms, tells students to grab all their
belongings and takes students to the nurse's office, where they must
wait until the test is finished. The test involves collecting a urine
specimen from each student, and the length of time of the test depends
on how long it takes collect the specimen; some students finish rather
quickly while it takes hours to collect a sample from others, the
students say.

"It's kind of scary," Davis said. "I felt pressure: invasion of
privacy. The (toilet) water was all blue. They weren't really nice.
They assume you had (used drugs). They don't let you shut the door.
It's like a punishment."

"I always heard it was really scary," senior Katelyn Eskew
added.

Tyler Hernly, also a senior, has never been tested. He thinks it's a
good idea to do so, but the procedure could be tweaked a little, he
said.

"You're, like, guilty until proven innocent in the way it's
conducted,' Hernly said.

Several local districts have used random drug testing, some adding the
practice more recently than others.

Randolph Eastern Schools just started a voluntary random drug test for
students in extracurricular activities and student drivers, Supt.
Cathy Stephen said. Union Junior-Senior High School held a parent
meeting on Wednesday to discuss the possibility of implementing a
policy. Mount Pleasant Township Community Schools also randomly tests
students. Muncie Community Schools and Wes-Del Community Schools, on
the other hand, don't use random drug testing.

The Muncie School Board has discussed implementing a policy, but has
not done so as the incidence of students caught with drugs is low,
Supt. Marlin Creasy said.

Court rulings

Delta implemented a random drug testing policy in the mid-90s, but
that policy was suspended in 2000 pending litigation on drug testing
in the Indiana courts. In 2002, the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corp.
vs. Joy, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled it wasn't unconstitutional
for schools to perform random, suspicionless drug tests on students
involved in extracurricular activities or student drivers.

That same year, in Linke vs. Northwestern School Corp., the Indiana
Supreme Court ruled that drug tests didn't "violate the searches and
seizures clause of the state constitution or the privileges and
immunities clause," after parents challenged the school's random drug
testing policy, according to the American Civil Liberties Union Web
site. After those rulings, random drug tests of student athletes,
drivers, those in extracurricular activities and students whose
parents opt to have them tested began again Delta in spring 2002.

"It is a healthful thing," Delta Principal Greg Hinshaw said. "It is a
necessary thing. It doesn't catch everything. It certainly does catch
some things. We have more than 800 of our 900 or so students in the
pool. Obviously, there are some students out there who make an effort
to make sure they're not in the pool, and the Supreme Court protects
their right to do that."

'Help saying no'

Daleville Community Schools has tested students for drugs for about 15
years. Daleville followed Shenandoah Schools, after the Henry County
school district became one of the first local districts to implement
such a policy. Daleville also stopped for a short time awaiting the
outcome of the Northwestern court case. Only student athletes and
those whose sign up them up are tested, but there has been discussion
of including students who drive or are involved in any extracurricular
activity. No formal recommendation has been made before the board,
Daleville Junior-Senior High School Principal John Junco said.

The drug testing policy often gives student athletes an easy out to
peer pressure about drugs, Junco and Supt. Paul Garrison said.

"We had some community discussion, the board members at board meetings
and with students, and we had a group of athletes at that time who
wanted a little help saying no," Garrison said. "One of the things
that we think is good about such a policy is it allows people to say,
'No, I can't do that. I'm going to be tested.'"

The Delta students agreed the possibility of a test is a deterrent for
some students.

"I think it prevents students from doing it because there's a chance
of maybe getting tested," Dorton said.