AFTER-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES HELP TROUBLED TEENS

The Supreme Court's decision regarding the drug testing of high school
students for extracurricular activities will only push children away from
activities that could be a lifeline for them.

I was a cheerleader in high school who also happened to be an active
alcoholic and drug-abuser. I got sober when I was 16, and I have been in
recovery now for 15 years. I am afraid to think how much further down my
life could have gone if I had been banned from cheerleading or the other
extracurricular activities I was involved in.

Those activities kept me from withdrawing completely and becoming even more
addicted as a result of isolation and increasing depression.

It is obvious that the Supreme Court and Oklahoma policy-makers care more
about knowing who is using drugs and punishing them than in helping
children. This decision will not protect our youth, and the money that will
now be spent on costly and intrusive drug-testing should instead go to
improving after-school programs for all children, regardless of what drugs
they may or may not be taking.

WYNDI ANDERSON

Charleston