SUSPECTS

Signing up for choir, band, sports teams and even Future Farmers of America
has always carried added expectations for students in high school and
middle school. Taking on extra work, practicing before or after school,
competing on weekends and maintaining high grades all go with the territory.

But an increasing number of school districts are adding a new component:
mandatory drug testing.

School officials reason that students competing against other schools could
pose a danger to themselves or others if they are taking illicit drugs. The
privacy invasion is small, officials say, and the screening can discourage
drug use among teens.

The trouble is that testing programs often target students randomly and
don't require any evidence or even suspicion that a particular individual
has engaged in wrongdoing.

In the spring, the U.S. Supreme Court will take up a challenge to a program
by which the Tecumseh, Okla., school district required drug testing for
students taking part in extracurricular activities.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the program violates the
Fourth Amendment's ban on unreasonable searches. A significant reason was
that school officials could not show that there was a serious student drug
problem that the screening would address.

The Supreme Court has allowed random drug testing for student athletes in a
district with an epidemic problem that included athlete involvement.

Drug testing without actual suspicion of individual misbehavior pushes the
edge of the Fourth Amendment's reasonableness requirement. The justices
should draw the line at screening students when no widespread abuse problem
can be demonstrated.

Young people tend to live up to expectations. Letting school officials
treat students all as suspects not only sends a dangerous message but goes
too far in diminishing their constitutional protections.