RANDOM DRUG TESTING

In response to Joe Hadsall's editorial on 8/27/2003, take heart in the fact
that there are at least two parents (and I know of others) that disagree
with the Nixa School District's recent approval of a mandatory random
drug-testing policy.

We were distressed as we read the drug testing policy. If we don't sign an
agreement, our sons cannot participate in any extra curricular activities.

Never could we have imagined that this War on Drugs would have gone so far,
that our children would have to pee in a bottle to prove they are worthy of
participation in extra curricular activities.

These two parents do not need this policy to direct or influence the lives
of their children. It is our guidance, involvement, and presence in their
life that will address key values, attitudes, and perceptions that prove
more important in drug prevention than drug testing.

And rest assured, our boys know that this infringement on their basic
American rights is not one that their parents take lightly.

We agree that drug testing will not solve Nixa's drug problem. It is
estimated that only 3 percent of schools drug test their students and drug
testing is most common in rural school districts.

There are reasons that so few schools adopt such a policy. We can hope that
district administrators will reevaluate this policy. We can hope that they
carefully examine the study you quoted and others available from the
American Public Health Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and
the National Institute for Drug Abuse; all opposed to drug testing policies.

We can hope that they reserve their precious resources for books, teachers
and proven drug prevention strategies that will really benefit students.

- -Paul and Phyllis Gies