Voluntary Drug Tests in Schools

I am writing in response to a private school’s recent use of voluntary drug testing to deter students from drug use. I feel that voluntary drug testing, along with mandatory testing in schools, is useless in deterring students from drug abuse. Not only that, but drug testing has no place in schools. If parents want their child to be tested for drugs, they should have it done through their physician. Privately. A student’s drug use, unless he influences others, is his or her business. He or she should not be ridiculed and exposed for the sake of claiming that we are making a stand against drugs. We must not fight drugs at the stake of peoples’ lives.

There are other methods of promoting drug-free living. Students must be taught that they should not ignore a friend, peer, or parent’s drug abuse. Students must be taught to support those around them who have a drug problem. They must be taught to say no to peer pressure, and to support those who do say no. In most cases, testing doesn’t reveal anything that was unknown to people around the person who fails such a test. The key to preventing the vast spreading of drug abuse is education and enforcement--not just education or just enforcement, but both.

Voluntary drug testing is a waste of time. Usually those who volunteer for testing don’t use drugs. And then out of the samples taken, only a random selection will be tested. Furthermore, mandatory drug testing violates a person’s right to privacy, and the test itself is not very reliable.

No matter how drug abuse increases, we must not resort to drug testing in our schools. It would be ludicrous if we turned to mandatory testing as a way to do away with drug abuse. It is drugs we are fighting, not abusers.

JOHN STEVENS

Dana Point