DRUG DOGS UNLEASH CONTROVERSY

The recent decision by the Abbotsford school board to allow
drug-sniffing dogs into local schools has prompted heated response
from both sides of the issue. Read on:

Editor, The News:

I am a student at Yale Secondary in Abbotsford, and I would like to
thank the school board for alerting me to the drug problem we have in
our schools today.

My friends and I were not aware of any such problem, having seen
little evidence of drug use during school hours, and none at all on
school property.

We feel much more secure in the knowledge that somewhere, some student
doing drugs will now be forced to stop.

We laugh at those who say this violates students' rights; schools do
not give, or even rent, lockers to students. Instead, we are allowed
access to them.

How can our rights be violated by someone searching their own
property? If students really didn't like the idea of having police and
dogs sniffing through their belongings, they wouldn't pay for lockers.

Shaun Karey-McKenna