DON'T DRUG TEST STUDENTS

Fort Gibson School District is considering drug testing its high
school students, and we wish they wouldn't.

Undoubtedly, some students are involved in drugs, but the district
is in danger of driving those students away with testing, not
helping them steer away from drugs.

Many districts in the United States in the last 10 years have begun
random drug testing of students involved in extracurricular activities.

Courts have not allowed the random testing of all students within a
district, holding that it would be a violation of the Fourth Amendment.

However, districts have been able to test students involved in
extracurricular activities and whose parents have signed waivers.

Fort Gibson's policy would be similar, and administrators there say
they want to get 100 percent extracurricular student involvement,
which would mean random testing of the entire student population.

As well meaning as the program may be, it raises questions and objections.

First, has Fort Gibson High School seen a rash of students with drug
problems that require financing a comprehensive drug-testing
program? Probably not.

And while drugs are pervasive in our society and some Fort Gibson
students are probably experimenting with them, the policy will drive
those students from extracurricular activities, which are some of
the best means of keeping young people active and involved and away
from drug use.

Last, random suspicionless drug testing has not been proven to be
effective. Researchers at the University of Michigan between 1998
and 2001 found no difference in rates of drug use between schools
that have drug-testing programs and those that do not.

Continue talking to youths about the ills of drugs and provide help
to those who want it, but don't begin a testing program.