SCHOOLS WITH SERIOUS DRUG ISSUES SHOULD GO TO THE DOGS

Schools exist so that young people can learn to study, to sharpen their
minds and to prepare for the adult world.

But when students start using or dealing illegal drugs on school property
not only are they committing a crime, they are defeating the public's
efforts to provide them with the best education in a disciplined learning
environment.

That's why B.C. school principals must impose zero tolerance on drug use and
on the drug pushers whose conduct destroys a focused school environment.

Enter the Surrey School Board which recently voted to allow the deployment
of drug-sniffing dogs in schools in the mushrooming Fraser Valley
municipality.

Board chairman Shawn Wilson argued that "principals need as many options as
possible."

He says if principals have reasonable grounds to suspect a child is
harbouring illegal drugs, then they should have the option of calling in a
security firm to conduct a legal dog drug search.

Drug searches by trained dogs work with uncanny accuracy at Vancouver
International Airport. There's every reason to believe they can be equally
effective in our public schools -- with some restrictions.

School children, like all British Columbians, have a reasonable expectation
of privacy -- it is a right enshrined in the Canadian Charter as well as
federal and provincial privacy legislation.

Dog searches can be intrusive and expensive. Initial estimates put the cost
of a single search at $275 for a two-dog team and a videographer to tape the
search.

It goes without saying that a dog drug search should be used judiciously and
selectively, both for the sake of the students and the taxpaying public.
After all, schools are not meant to be law enforcers. They have enough
social issues to tackle without having to be a drug-enforcement agency.

Furthermore, school administrators must canvass security firms that offer
drug-search services. It is crucial these companies be above board and
beyond reproach and free of real or perceived conflicts of interest.

With these caveats in place, we support chairman Wilson's move to make
Surrey's schools safer.

Indeed, school administrators need to have a range of tools at their
disposal to keep their learning centres drug free and their students prepped
to listen and learn.