DRUG TESTING IN SCHOOLS WILL LET STUDENTS BE ACCOUNTABLE

I applaud Southwest Allen County Schools for taking the initiative to
stop drug and alcohol use in my school. The party atmosphere at
Homestead continues to grow every year, and the present methods of
education and prevention are proving to be ineffective. A new way of
thinking has to be developed to curb the trend, and that's what
Superintendent Brian Smith and his administration have put together: a
well-thought-out program designed to help students rather than punish
them.

Monday's editorial stated that random drug tests are too expensive, of
questionable deterrent value and a violation of privacy rights. Let me
dispense with those objections quickly. My school is considering drug
tests that cost $15 each according to Anita Gross, chairperson of the
No Alcohol/No Drugs task force backing the program. The first three
years of this program will be financed entirely from private
donations, local foundations and government grants. If drug testing
works during its three-year trial, then the tests would cost my school
and the two middle schools $54,000 annually. That's just $18,000 per
school per year. When you consider the costs of students missing
school because of drugs and alcohol and the lost revenue to the school
system resulting from their absences, this is a no-brainer.

When it comes to questionable deterrent value, the editorial writer
cites a flawed University of Michigan study. According to Dr. Joseph
McKinney, one of the nation's experts on drug testing, the Michigan
study "compared all schools that had drug testing policies whether or
not any actual testing was done." If I turned in a report with that
type of statistical error at Homestead, I'd be looking at a big fat
"F."

McKinney has done the most extensive tests in the nation on this topic
and found that 94percent of the principals at schools who implement
drug testing programs have reported that they have seen a significant
decrease in drug and alcohol use among their students. I believe that
Dianne Moake, my principal, will see the same results. And I'm proud
that she and the other administrators at my school are wholeheartedly
backing this program.

Monday's editorial said drug testing violates my privacy rights. This
assumes that my fellow students and I value our privacy over the lives
of our friends. I would assert that it is just the opposite: We want
accountability.

Certainly, we value our freedom. But if there's one thing we've
learned from the war on terrorism, it is that our freedom has a price.
And for me, becoming an accountable person means that I have to invite
others into my life to hold me to my promises. If that means drug
testing, so be it. It's a price I'm willing to pay.

It seems the only reason to deny drug testing in the schools is to
protect underage drinking and drug use. And, frankly, I give up my
privacy every time I change clothes in the locker room.

Let me give you three reasons why I support drug testing in my school.
First, the program will encourage students to make constructive
decisions rather than destructive ones. Second, it gives teeth to the
drug-free promise that athletes and other students participating in
extracurricular activities currently sign. (Currently, most of my
peers just consider that promise a joke; there's simply no means to
keep students accountable to it.) Finally, the new drug testing
program will give students a reason to say no to drugs and alcohol.

Plus, my school is proposing a program that rewards accountability.
This drug testing program doesn't focus on punishing offenders as much
as it does rewarding those who follow through on their commitment to
avoid drugs and alcohol. Students who comply with the random
drug-testing program become eligible for scholarships totaling
$100,000 to be handed out over the next three years.

The drug-testing proposal gives students a solid and defensible reason
to say "no" to drugs and alcohol. It is a reason that will be
understood and accepted by our classmates. It will give students an
opportunity to say "no" to drugs and alcohol and "yes" to athletics,
band, show choir, journalism and all the activities that make school a
complete experience.

Furthermore, every student knows peer pressure is a force that is
extremely difficult to resist. At last there is a way to deflect peer
pressure without losing respectability or reputation. Friends will
understand when a fellow student says "no" to drugs and alcohol
because no person wants to see a friend removed from the activity in
which they have dedicated time and energy to be successful.

The program Dr. Smith and other members of the community have
developed will make the schools safer and stronger. Students will
knowingly or even unknowingly help themselves by participating. Grades
will increase, athletes will perform better and students will be able
to learn in a safer environment.

Furthermore, the program will keep students and athletes accountable
for their actions. The contractual promise every athlete and
extracurricular participant signs will no longer be worthless.

Students will be given a respectable reason to say "no" to drugs and
alcohol. By establishing this program, we may never know all the good
that will come from it because of all the bad that is stopped before
it gets started.

As a member of a new generation who embraces accountability rather
than the gross indulgences of personal freedoms that previous
generations have embraced, I would urge you as a reader of this paper
to lend your support for a safer and stronger school community by
becoming a vocal advocate for random drug testing.