LIKE SUPREME COURT, STUDENTS DIVIDED OVER RANDOM DRUG TESTING

5-4 Ruling Permits Schools To Test Anyone Involved In Extracurricular
Activities

One 16-year-old declares that random drug is testing a violation of his
rights. Another teen-ager says it would help users face up to their problems.

Young Americans seem as divided over drug testing as the Supreme Court,
which ruled 5-4 in favor of the practice for students who take part in any
after-school activity.

The ruling, handed down Thursday, could affect more than half of America's
estimated 14 million high school students.

Shawn Ligocki, a 16-year-old from Pinole, Calif., says he'll be upset if
his high school decides to start testing - he doesn't think drugs are used
enough to pose problems. But Ligocki, who camps and does other outdoor
activities with a school club, also objects on principle.

"It's not really their right to be testing," Ligocki says, echoing the
oft-heard argument that random tests violate the Constitution's guarantee
against unreasonable searches.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy, a group that opposes punitive drug laws,
also is disappointed with the decision.

Shawn Heller, a recent college graduate and the group's national director,
says the ruling could discourage students from participating in
after-school programs - which are a good way to keep young people from
taking drugs in the first place.

"Being part of the band or the student newspaper gives a kid something to
do," he says.

Marnie Wolfe, a recent graduate from a high school in Tacoma, Wash., is
among those who disagree. She thinks random tests may provide a needed
wake-up call for her many peers who use marijuana and other drugs such as
cocaine and Ecstasy.

"It's an awakening to the real world that you have responsibilities," says
Wolfe, who will attend Dartmouth College this fall. "I think that it's
better if it's caught now and you face the consequences when you have a
better support system at home."

Matt Malinowski of Wyncote, Pa., says random drug tests are a "harsh way to
deal with the issue." But Malinowski, 17, who wrestles, plays volleyball
and serves in his school's student government, would submit to testing
because "I personally don't do drugs, so I have nothing to hide."

Rebecca MacEachen, a 16-year-old from Red Hook, N.Y., says drug testing is
none of the schools' business. If a teen-ager has a drug problem, MacEachen
says, "I don't think the school should be intervening. I think it's up to
the parents."

And at least one pediatrician who deals with high schools says random drug
testing is "our excuse for not doing the job right."

"To me, the thing is building a relationship with a kid," says Dr. Charles
Shubin, who is in private practice and also serves as a doctor at
Baltimore's Polytechnic Institute. "What I gather is that school districts
[that test] don't think they can do that."

Drug tests had been allowed previously only for student athletes.

But in Thursday's decision, the court ruled against a former Oklahoma high
school honor student who competed on an academic quiz team and sang in the
choir.

"We find that testing students who participate in extracurricular
activities is a reasonably effective means of addressing the school
district's legitimate concerns in preventing, deterring and detecting drug
use," Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the court majority.

The court stopped short of allowing random tests for all students, though
several justices have indicated that they are interested in addressing that
issue.