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opinion:
our view
Just say no to
high school drug testing
It seems that the Supreme Court may uphold mandatory drug
testing for most or all high school students. The high court
is reviewing a case from Oklahoma involving a high school
choir singer who objected to mandatory urine tests that the
high school required for all participants in extra-curricular
activities.
Graham Boyd, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union,
is representing the student. According to the Los Angeles
Times, Boyd argued that mandatory drug testing is a violation
of the Fourth Amendment's ban on "unreasonable searches
and seizures" by the government.
Boyd said that an official must have an individualized suspicion
of drug use or any other wrongdoing.
But conservative members of the court strongly disagreed with
Boyd's point of view. Justice Stephen C. Breyer compared drug
testing to metal detectors on school campuses. He felt that
the safety of all students was the highest priority, not just
their supposed rights.
The idea of mandatory drug testing of students is a sticky
subject. It is good that schools think so highly of their
students' safety, but at what cost should the safety be ensured?
And, in the same vein, is drug testing really making campuses
safer?
It is of the conservative viewpoint that drug users are manic,
violent and basically the dredges of society. But that is
a dated and convoluted viewpoint. Drug users can also be relatively
upstanding.
It is reasonable to think that the gamut of drug users on
high school campuses ranges from band members to athletes
to honors students.
The Supreme Court has already upheld mandatory drug testing
for high school athletes. Drug testing of athletes by universities
and the NCAA is a regular occurrence. This testing mainly
focuses on steroids and other performing-enhancing drugs but
testing for other illegal drugs is allowed also.
Testing athletes does have its merits, especially when steroid
use is the concern.
But bringing general students into the mix is wrong. Most
young drug users are hurting no one but themselves.
A school's purpose is to educate children, not to regulate
their lives. That is the parents' job. If parents are incapable
of instilling values in their children or regulating their
children's lives, then that is their problem.
Mandatory drug testing of students is nothing more than government-regulated
control over children's lives -- control that should remain
in the hands of parents or guardians.
Even worse, the Supreme Court is trying to legislate not only
morality but also the control over the liberties that all
Americans are guaranteed by the Constitution.
The government should be trying to defend the rights that
the Founding Fathers tried to ensure for future generations.
It should not be deceptively trying to further limit the rights
of our fellow citizens.
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