DRUG TESTING MAKES SENSE; SHREDDER DOESN'T

In response to the Shredder column of June 24 ["Here I Go Again], I am one
of the so-called "geniuses" running the schools in Shandon who supports
mandatory drug testing of athletes.

When Tim Golden of the SLO Blues suspended a player for smoking pot he
showed strength of character and commitment about a program for which he
feels strongly about. Athletes who use drugs do so illegally and thus
typically do not reach their full potential on the sports fields or as a
contributing member of a committed team with a common goal.

As a former coach and now and athletic director, I also strongly support the
positive experiences students learn as part of an athletic team. But, unlike
you, I also support the positive experiences that a student can expect when
remaining drug-free and having the "guts" to say no to people like the
Shredder who believe smoking a "little" pot isn't a problem.

Teens do have enough "identity difficulties," but being presumed a liar in a
drug testing program isn't one of them. The identity difficulties mentioned
stem from the process of growing up and becoming an adult.

These days, teens receive so many "double messages" from adults and from the
media that the problems found in maturing can be even greater. Do we feel
that its OK if our teens use just a "little" pot or other drugs? I, for one,
feel strongly that taking the use of drugs out of the decision-making
process of a teen can make their identity difficulties less difficult. One
less problem to worry about. One less accident caused.

If anything is "putrid," as you state, it is not that we would test our
athletes but that students would learn from our society that using drugs is
acceptable behavior. I find it incredible that you call teen drug use a
"nonproblem."

As for the coaches and other officials at Templeton High School not
providing an acceptable reason to implement a drug testing policy, it will
never be because there are "drug-crazed dealers on campus, whacked-out
students, or drooling athletes." These are extremes that no responsible
school official would wait to see before implementing a program of reform.

You must realize, as we all do, that there is a problem with students using
drugs for recreational purposes, and waiting until everyone is "whacked out"
is too late.

Your suggestion of Templeton officials joining the students in the smoking
of a "little" pot to prove that it will not turn them into "snarling beasts,
hopeless addicts, or communists" is ludicrous and just plain old sensational
journalism.

By not banning participation in athletics to athletes who just "take a
little puff a joint" we are, or you are, condoning drug use. As for myself,
I will stick to our school program as well as any similar program that would
involve my own two children at their schools.

Karen Donaghe is the athletic director of Shandon High School.