HOUSE OKS STUDENT 'KEEP CLEAN' BILL

Alcohol, Tobacco Would Prohibit Scholarships

The Idaho House passed a bill that would offer state scholarships to high
schoolers who stayed drug-, alcohol- and tobacco-free.

The measure would offer some money for one semester for each year the
student tested negative for the substances.

But time is running out on the bill because there's likely just one week
left in the session and the Senate Education Committee is still wrangling
with sweeping charter school legislation.

The point, the bill's sponsor Sharon Block said, is to have Idaho teenagers
saying, "Sorry, I cannot do drugs with you. I cannot do alcohol with you. I
cannot smoke with you."

Block's plan would be optional for school districts; it's really aimed at
the 17 districts that already do drug testing for athletes and others in
extracurricular activities. For those districts, those students who want
scholarships would simply join the pool of students randomly tested for
drugs and alcohol. The tests, including the one for tobacco, cost less than
$4 each, Block said.

Bishop Kelly and Fruitland high schools test. About 17 districts have the
policy now, Block said, and each can make its own rules.

The bill passed 62-5. Moscow liberal Democrat Shirley Ringo voted against
it, along with conservative Republican Reps. Lenore Barrett of Challis,
Dick Harwood of St. Maries, Shirley McKague of Meridian and Janice
McGeachin of Idaho Falls.

Senate Education Chairman Gary Schroeder said his committee would hold a
hearing on the bill, if it got there in time. The measure's fate could
depend on how long Schroeder's panel takes debating the charter school bill.

What do people think about the idea?

We asked readers what they thought about the proposed plan to make state
scholarships available to Idaho students who stay off drugs, alcohol and
tobacco.

Here's what a few said:

"What about kids who live in a home or have relatives who smoke? How does
the second-hand smoke show up in their drug tests? Personally, I think
anything that requires using your body fluids a gross invasion of privacy.
Scholarships should go to those who earn them academically, not a certain
minority or those who have parents who care. Most teens I know of who
indulge in destructive behaviors like alcohol and smoking have parents who
are not able or do not wish to spend time with them. This will just be
another way of showing them how unfair life is."

- - Chris Andrews

"Brilliant idea. However, you should determine that all that pass and prove
college-bound either two or four years and test negative will get a portion
of the money. Not one or 10 kids, but all. $60 helps buy one book. The more
you get involved in the program, the better."

- - Cathy Campbell

"I think this idea for scholarships for drug-, alcohol- and tobacco-free
youth is a dumb idea. It is a better idea than the feds who deny
scholarships otherwise available if a person has a drug conviction, though.

Both of these ideas set drug use, even the most benign, infrequent drug
use, above every other 'crime.' No one is concerned that rapists, robbers,
child molesters or murderers get scholarships, just drug users. And let's
be honest here, the only drug that is likely to be discovered is marijuana
because of its relatively long-lived lipophilic metabolites. Give me a break."

- - Tim Teater

"Whatever happened to teaching our children they have to work hard to excel
in their lives? Rewarding them for doing what is expected conditions them
to expect rewards for every little aspect of their lives. 'Gee Mom, I got
out of bed on time this morning, where's my reward?' 'I took out the trash
this week, what's in it for me?' Staying clean from drugs should be the
expected norm, not the exception."

- - Brian Benjamin