DRUG TESTING

In Our View

A major hurdle for randomly testing students involved in all
extracurricular activities for drugs has been cleared away for the Carthage
school board by a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision. The key questions
before the board now are when to start the testing program and how it will
be financed and implemented.

Those details might be ironed out soon enough to have a policy in place by
the start of the fall term. But board members have correctly chosen to move
carefully in developing a program that will touch the lives of so many
students, parents and patrons.

In a 5-4 ruling, the nation's highest court found that the constitutional
rights of a former Tecumseh (Okla.) High School student were not violated
when she was required to submit to random testing in order to join a
competitive singing group. That, in effect, has expanded random drug
testing from the narrow confines of sports to all extracurricular
activities, even as one dissenter noted, to the chess club, debate team and
band.

The Supreme Court reached the only fair conclusion. Why should athletes be
singled out for drug testing while other members of the student body are
ignored or given a free pass? The answer, the court said, is they
shouldn't. That comports closely with what parents and patrons told the
school board in Carthage.

In a perfect world, drug testing in schools would be unnecessary. Parents
would be involved in the daily lives of their children and, as studies
suggest, their influence would serve as a powerful anti-drug influence.
Alas, the world is far from perfect. Drugs are an increasingly serious
problem, and participation in extracurricular activities is voluntary.
Parents, patrons, administrators and teachers want assurances that students
taking part in these programs are drug-free. Will checking the urine
samples of a member of the band or the debate club prevent drug use? Not
really. But it does increase the possibility that those using such
substances will be found and given help.

The Carthage school board is doing the right thing in making certain that
whatever form its drug policy ultimately takes will be fair and effective.