High schools in various school districts have conducted research to try and prove that mandatory drug testing can prevent drug use among student athletes. Mandatory drug testing already occurs at the college and professional level in almost all sports. Drug testing is required at the higher levels because steroids and other drugs are often used to gain a competitive advantage (Bouchard and Sprague 1). To ensure that students remain drug free and improve their performance not only in their sport, but also in the classroom, it is necessary for authorities to perform a mandatory drug test throughout each high school (Issit and Newton 1). Mandatory drug testing started as early as the 1980’s, where it became a regular practice in schools because of the concern of drug use among young people (Lee and Walter 1). However, some believe that drug testing among high school students is unconstitutional and ineffective (Ballaro and Finley 1). Mandatory drug testing often motivates the students to not use drugs; therefore, it should not be considered a “pointless exercise.” So, what is the best solution to ensure that student athletes remain drug free and live a healthy lifestyle? In 2002, the Supreme Court ruled that schools are allowed to drug test students as long as it does not affect them academically. More than 1,000 middle and high schools have chosen to require students to have a drug test administered before they are able to participate in after school activities. If a student’s test results come back positive for the use of drugs, the student is usually banned from extracurricular activities until they participate in counseling and follow up tests (Ballaro and Finley 2). This may seem like an effective way to stop student... ... middle of paper ... ... teachers and administrators want to keep the repetition of the education system positive, then they need to be supportive of drug testing. Parents also need to courage their children to stay drug free. It is commonsense to continue a program that is working and can help many students stay drug free (Issitt 4). Works Cited Ballaro, Beverly and Finley, Laura. “Point: Just Say No to Mandatory Drug Testing in Schools.” Points of View: Mandatory Drug Testing (2013):1-8. Bouchard, Erika and Sprague, Nancy. “Drug Testing for Sports: An Overview.” Points of View: Drug Testing for Sport (2013): 1-6. Issit, Micah and Newton, Heather. “Counterpoint: Mandatory Drug Testing Programs Protect Students.” Points of View: Mandatory Drug Testing (2013): 1-7. Lee, M. and Walter, Andrew. “Mandatory Drug Testing: An Overview.” Points of View: Mandatory Drug Testing (2013):1-5.
Between 1985 and 1989 the Vernonia School District began to see a marked increase in disciplinary problems, drug use by students, athletic injuries, use of drugs by athletes and a student body preoccupation with the drug culture. The school district adopted a policy requiring students who participated in interscholastic athletics to sign a consent of both routine and random drug testing.
In Vernonia v. Acton, the issue in question is the school’s ability to drug test student-athletes. In the mid 80’s, the Vernonia School District noticed an uptick in drug use, and more so from athletes. Furthermore, the football and wrestling coach cited several situations that he felt drug-use was causing the athletes to be unsafe. Thus, the school instituted a mandatory drug test for all student athletes prior to the season, and then weekly random drug testing. If a student-athlete failed a test, they would have the choice of joining a rehab program, or serving a suspension. Suspension from school was never an option, nor were the results reported to authorities. Results were reported to the superintendent, athletic director, and other personnel on a need to know basis only (Vernonia v. Acton, 1995).
In Vernonia v. Acton, the issue in question is the school’s ability to drug test student-athletes. In the mid 80’s, the Vernonia School District noticed an uptick in drug use, and more so from athletes. Furthermore, the football and wrestling coach cited several situations that he felt drug-use was causing the athletes to be unsafe. Thus, the school instituted a mandatory drug test for all student athletes prior to the season, and then weekly random drug testing. If a student-athlete failed a test, they would have the choice of joining a rehab program, or serving a suspension. Suspension of school was never an option, nor were the results reported to authorities. Results were reported to the superintendent, athletic director, and other personnel on a need to know basis.
Drugs and alcohol are a big problem everywhere, but school administrators and teachers want to make sure that students are able to reach their full potential and drug use would greatly hinder that. However, according to the 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Survey 39.9% of students have tried marijuana and 70.8% of students have drank alcohol (YRBSS 2011 National Overview). If schools were to expel every student because of drug or alcohol use, there would hardly be any students left. A booklet published by the Drug Policy Alliance has research that shows that zero tolerance policies do not deter drug and alcohol use. Drug and alcohol use continues to rise in schools, and many schools do not do anything to help combat it except for harsh disciplinary procedures. Most elementary schools have drug education programs, but the same type of education does not work well with teenagers. The Drug Policy Alliance advocates for a three step process to help students instead of p...
...ng drugs will have a huge impact on them and the people that they are around. When a person does drugs once, they will keep using them and eventually become addicted. Drug testing student athletes is a necessity because taking drugs affects relationships that the athlete has, drugs cause consequence that can be detrimental, and lastly taking drugs hurt the body causing the athlete to have health issues. Hence, drug testing should be done in all high schools around the country.
Some may say that drug testing students is unconstitutional because it is an “invasion of privacy”. This, however, is not true. . . “In 1995, the United States Supreme Court ruled that drug testing for high school athletes was constitutional, and some districts expanded their policies to include middle schools.” I believe allowing schools to drug test athletes was a very positive thing. For many reason, but mainly because athletes who are on drugs have a higher risk of being injured. For example a kid who is on drugs and plays a sporting event has a greater risk of their heart stopping on the field or court. “Drug tests analyze bodily samples such as urine, blood, or hair to detect the presence of legal and illegal drugs.” The most common one is urine testing. I believe urine testing is the best way for high school students, because it does not take as long as some other tests and it is not as costly as other tests. This is especially important because obviously a school does not want to spend money on anything they do not have to. Our school does randomly drug test students every once in a while but only a few of the athletes are chosen to take the test so that really is not helping ...
Random testing is used more as a precaution to prevent students from taking the drugs and would eventually control the problem of student athletes taking drugs. Drug testing also has benefits to the student by encouraging them to become the best person and athlete they can be. Without drug testing, students are allowed to use illegal drugs as they please, which could potentially harm their body significantly. The advantages of illegal chemical testing in student athletes outweigh the disadvantages by a lot. Students should be pushed to their highest potential, and random drug testing in athletes can help do
Drug testing is a very controversial issue in today society. It causes uproar from the students and the workers across America because they feel that it is an infringement of their rights. I believe that it is an infringement of a person’s right to be tested of drugs just out of the blue and without just cause. I also believe that a person should be tested if they injure themselves or cause an injury to someone else on the job because then the employer is not held accountable or responsible for the damage that the worker might have caused (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, FEB 12, 1995 pA1). For a student, I think that if I student is getting very poor grades, acting up in class, or even skipping school, then, I feel they should be tested for drugs.
“A medical dictionary defines a drug as ‘any substance that when taken into the living organism may modify one or more of its functions’” (Newton 12). However, when speaking of drug testing for abuse a person is usually thinking about illegal drugs or drugs that can alter athletic performance in sporting events. Mandatory drug testing was not allowed in public schools until June 2002 when the Supreme Court allowed for public schools to do random drug testing (Carroll 23). This decision allowed for drug testing in all schools throughout the United States not just for athletes but also students who are in any activities within the school, for example clubs and competitive events (Carroll 23). Even though drug testing is now allowed by the Supreme Court many schools do not yet have mandatory drug test policies. Mandatory drug testing for high school athletes should be required because it decreases drug use in schools, is relatively inexpensive, and can prevent drug use and or abuse that can lead to a lifelong addiction.
Alarmingly high levels of illicit drug usage still continue to be a problem among the youth. Drug usage can have vital implications for the future health and happiness of many juveniles as they move forward towards their transition to adulthood. These adolescents who use drugs can have especially high risks of developing mental and physical problems that may interfere with their educational and future occupational pursuits. Therefore, approximately 20 percent of high schools in the United States utilize some form of drug testing as a requirement for students in the very hope of deterring students from using illegal substances (Counsel and Heal). "Even though drug testing sounds good, based on the science, it is not working," said study author Daniel Romer, of the University of Pennsylvania Annenberg Public Policy Center in Philadelphia. "So as a prevention effort, school drug testing is kind of wrong-headed." Not only does the policy has no effect in deterring the drug use among young people, drug testing is also very expensive, it may steer students away from extracurricular activities, it can result in false positives which would result in the punishment of innocent students, and ultimately it can weaken the delicate trust and relationship between students and teachers.
Today, drug use in sport has reached enormous proportions in society and is destroying athletics from the ground up. Nowhere is the problem more serious than in professional athletics, where athletes, coaches and trainers misuse drugs in search of ways of ways to improve performance. Many athletes fail to take their time when making the decision whether to use drugs to their advantage. Unfortunately athletes may use drugs for therapeutic indications, recreatio9nal or social reasons, as muscular aids or to mask the presence of other drugs during drug testing. But the safety of the athlete's health is being neglected. Drug use has led to an increased number of deaths and suspensions of athletes. Also, if this continues all athletes someday will have to choose whether to compete at a world-class level and take drugs, or compete at a club level and be clean. In sports, athletes, coaches and trainers will try their best to find a way to reach the top level. They not only search for a way to enhance performance...
High school students are leaders to younger kids and many others in their community. As a leader these student must show others what good character is like, but instead they are destroying their lives by doing drugs. In the past decade the drug use among high school students is on the rise once again. With the internet, their exposure to drugs is much greater. High school students are convinced that they are able to get away with using drugs. These drug addicts soon influence other students into doing the drugs because there isn’t a rule preventing drug use. In order to protect these student’s future, drug tests must be enforced among all students ensuring a safe environment for students to learn successfully. Allowing random drug testing in high schools will shy away students from trying these harmful drugs. The stop of drug use among high school students is crucial because drugs prevents student from learning leading them to dropping out of high school. Students that become overwhelmed by these harmful drugs will ruin their lives forever, but if steered in the right direction they can be saved.
Many high schools across the country have brought much attention to the idea of giving random drug tests to students in high school. The newfound interest in student drug testing may be as a result of recent polls, which have shown an increase in drug use among high school students. Many teachers, parents, and members of school comities are for the drug testing, while most students and some parents feel that this would be a violation of students rights as Americans, which is true.
I. Drug testing is meant to help clean our communities and the schools from drug related problems. Drug testing is an easy yet complicated test for many people. Statistics have shows a dramatic decrease of drug use and abuse in between the years of 2000-2006 (University Services, 2009). The U.K.’s country wide drug testing have helped show scientists all over the world the improvements that drugs testing at schools can make.
First, teachers are wasting the kids time and their own time just to see who uses drugs and who does not see who use them and who does not use them and the teachers can do the drug testing after or before school so that it is not wasting the students time to see if they use drugs or not. The reason that it is a bad thing is because they are using their money for things that they don’t need so that would be a waist of their time to work and then spend your money on something that you don’t need.According to Heather L. she says that “this policy violates students rights to be free from unreasonable search.”