RANDOM DRUG TESTS AT 100 INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

RANDOM drug testing of pupils has been introduced by more than 100
leading independent schools, the Headmasters' Conference said yesterday.

Heads now assumed that, in line with national statistics, at least 25
per cent of their GCSE pupils had experimented with illegal drugs and about
10 per cent took them regularly.

The number of schools that automatically expelled children for a first
offence was now declining, they said.

The Rev Dr John Barrett, head of The Leys School in Cambridge, who led a
conference working
party on drugs, said: "We are recommending heads to adopt a more
flexible approach.

We think the rules should be that any pupil involved in drugs loses
the right to be a member of the school community but may remain,
subject to random tests."

He was speaking after the conference in Jersey had been told by Trevor
Grice, an international expert on the effects of drugs, that the jury on
marijuana was back and their
verdict was "guilty".

"We now know that short-term memory - which is what young people need when
they are learning - is the first thing to go when they take dope," he said.

"In the same way as sunburn doesn't disappear when the sun goes down, so 50
per cent of
the effect of smoking dope over the weekend is still there between
four and six days later.

The second thing to go is the drug-taker's ability to think about the
future which is followed by disrespect for authority, lying, secret
phone calls and stealing from their parents."

Some heads disagreed with the flexible approach that the conference was
recommending. Ian Templeton, head of Glenalmond, near Perth, said:
"Our policy is one offence and you're out. That's it."

Michael Mavor, head of Rugby, said: "Our aim is to reduce the number of pupils
who experiment with drugs.

So we expel anyone we catch. We also use random testing if pupils'
behaviour or academic performance leads us to suspect that they may be
taking drugs.

It's proved to be very effective. We used to have quite a lot of
people smoking cannabis; now there are almost none."

However Mark Pyper, head of Gordonstoun, where Princes Philip, Charles, Andrew
and Edward were pupils, said drugs were so freely available that
taking them was equivalent to smoking cigarettes in the Sixties. "We
use random testing after a first offence."

Edward Gould, the head at Marlborough, where urine testing is used after a
first offence
and if staff have reason to be worried about a pupil's lifestyle,
said: "In this respect, we mirror society. Drugs affect every school in
this conference."

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady