STUDENT DRIVER DRUG TESTING ... NOBLE NOTION, BAD PROPOSAL

Collier County School Board member Steve Donovan, a
firefighter/paramedic who says he has seen too many young people
hurt in traffic accidents, proposes this safety initiative: random
drug testing for students who drive to school.

There would be parental notification and counseling for the first
offense; that plus maybe losing driving privileges to school would
face repeaters.

One problem with Donovan's idea is that it makes taking issue with
it seem to favor teenage drug abuse.

His proposal is wrong on so many levels that we proceed regardless.

We believe his plan:

* Is too invasive -- forcing compliance with a test without probable cause.

* Creates a false sense of security.

* Is an intrusion on parental prerogatives for supervision.

* Assumes the worst of young people, by skipping non-students who
drive to school.

* Is liable to impose a penalty for a lapse in judgment, with
nothing to do with school or driving, some time ago.

We have a hard enough time with random drug testing of student
athletes for much the same reasons. Extending them to student
drivers -- by stretching the argument that driving, like sports, is
an elective privilege -- only serves to spread around the same dubious logic.

Drugs are already banned on school property.

Law enforcement ought to be focused. All drivers ought to be
observed for signs of impairment -- while they're driving.

Arguing against a program put forth in the name of public safety can
be tricky. We get tangled up in words trying to do that while being civil.

What we're trying to say is, very little of this is the School
Board's business. Maybe you can do better when accepting Donovan's
invitation for public input to his e-mail address at
donovast@collier.schools.k12.fl.us