Drug Testing: Costly Or Ineffective?

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Recommended: Should schools drug test their kids

In an editorial published by the Washington Post titled “School Drug Tests: Costly, Ineffective, and More Common than You Think,” Christopher Ingraham states that drug testing students in middle or high school is costly and ineffective. Drug tests do not work and do not influence the students to stop using drugs. Leading them to become a waste of money. Schools waste $20,000 worth of taxpayers’ money just for it to go to hundreds of drug tests and only 6 of them to show positive. The money could go to better the school, renovate classrooms, or buy computers and textbooks for the school and students. In Ingraham’s editorial he uses ethos and logos to support his claim. He cites and quotes sources like the American Academy of Pediatrics and …show more content…

During drug testing, school officials stand outside of the bathroom door listening to students urinate making sure there is no tampering with the specimens. In a situation like that anyone can become uncomfortable. Students should trust their school officials and go to them with their problems, even if it is drug related. Officials standing guard while they use the restroom, discourages them to seek help from the officials. Also, if the test showed positive results, questioning students about prescription medications they use, follow the positive result. This means that students have to disclose their private information (taking antidepressants or birth control) to schools. The legal status of the policy is questionable due to invading privacy. Many parents have filed lawsuits against school districts over their student drug testing policies. This means that, “schools electing to drug test their students are subject to tremendous legal liability” (“Preface to ’Should”). Laws vary in almost all the states. In some states judges of their Supreme Court have banned it. With the questionable legal status and invading the privacy of students, it is not ok for schools to have these types of …show more content…

Although this is not wrong, there are alternatives. Data from schools who use drug testing do not show lower reports of drug use in their school, showing its ineffectiveness for the students. Seeing that, “no systematic studies examining the effectiveness of drug testing as it compares to other prevention strategies,” organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics do not support or recommend drug testing in middle or high schools (“Should Students”). Schools need to stop, testing their students. Why give these tests expecting good results, and that students will not do drugs, when looking at data they do not work? Teenagers will not care about the drug

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