INVASIVE POLICIES

Random Drug Tests Don't Belong In Schools

The Williamsburg-James City County School Board must resist the
proposal, which will be put before it by the superintendent tonight,
to undertake random drug testing in the high schools. There's no
evidence the program will be effective at getting at the problem the
community is concerned about - drug use among teens. But it is likely
to cause damage in another area - to students' understanding of what
it means to live in a free society.

Superintendent Gary Mathews plans to ask the board to adopt a program
of random drug testing for students who park on campus or are
involved in extra-curricular activities.

In defining who would be affected, the proposal ventures way beyond
what the U.S. Supreme Court has OK'd: testing only for students
involved in competitive extra-curricular activities. Cases in other
states have cast a wider net, but they're not legal precedent in Virginia.

A vocal group has been advocating for testing to deter drug use among
young people. But there's no convincing evidence that random testing
will do that. Even Mathews' proposal to the board admits that
"empirical evidence that denotes the effectiveness of random student
drug testing is difficult to find."

No wonder: It targets the wrong kids. Those who participate in
extra-curricular activities - who are engaged in their schools, who
maintain the necessary grade-point average, who sustain the
dedication and discipline to be involved - aren't those most likely
to be using drugs.

It also goes after the wrong problem. Alcohol is the most common
substance abused by teenagers, the one that gets them into the most
trouble, from bad sexual decision-making to vehicular mayhem. But
alcohol, for the most part, flies under the radar of testing programs.

And it is another example of dumping on schools responsibilities and
authority that rightly belong with parents. A better approach would
be improved communication with parents about the observed behavior
and measured performance of individual students, followed by courses
of action based on that communication.

Random testing undermines the intent of the Fourth Amendment to
protect citizens from unreasonable search and seizure. It teaches
them to put a low valuation on, and surrender easily, a fundamental
freedom - not to have their bodies and bodily fluids intruded on when
there is no probable cause to believe they have committed a crime and
when they are denied the protection of due process.

There are important roles for schools in preventing substance abuse.
The primary role is ... no surprises here ... education. Schools also
help by involving young people in positive, healthy activities -
sports, band, clubs - that can be an antidote to drugs.

Random testing could drive students away from those activities. That
is yet another reason to reject this proposal, which may look
promising on the surface but is deeply flawed.