RANDOM DRUG TESTING SENDS A NEGATIVE MESSAGE

No question, some high school students use and abuse illegal drugs.

Therefore, school officials should carefully monitor students for
evidence of drug use or dealing.

But should they go as far as conducting random drug tests?
Administrators in New Bedford plan to do just that.

Random testing will be implemented in the city's middle schools and
high schools this March.

The effort is voluntary, in one sense: Parents will choose whether to
enroll their children in the program.

Carl Alves, director of the partnership that runs the New Bedford
program, said students that are randomly chosen will be called out of
class for a cotton swab test in the mouth.

The sample is sent to an outside lab to be tested for drugs. The
results will be sent directly to parents, so nothing goes on the
student's school record.

Local schools already have fairly stiff penalties for drug use in
place. Students caught doing drugs on Fitchburg or Leominster school
campuses, or during a school-related activity, are automatically
suspended for up to 10 days, and must attend an expulsion hearing.

There are also efforts to treat the problem proactively. Leominster
High School has a substance abuse group that meets each week, and
Fitchburg High School provides counseling for students if their
parents feel it is necessary.

But neither school is planning to conduct random drug testing. "We're
an academic institution," said Rich Masciarelli, principal of
Fitchburg High School. "We have students six hours out of 24 and our
focus is on the academic curriculum."

There could be merit to the view that random testing serves as a
deterrent. "I think it would make kids scared to do it," said Caitlin
Jones, a junior at Leominster High School. "It would make them think
twice." But enacting such a policy would also send a negative message
to students: That on the whole, they are not to be trusted.

The fact is that many students do not succumb to temptation, and
spurn the use of illegal drugs.

That should be recognized by any school effort to fight drug use.
Testing may have its place, particularly when administrators believe
a particular student has a serious dependency issue.

But there's no need to tar all kids with the same brush. Random drug
testing would do just that.