Drug Use In Schools Research Paper

The first reason why I believe that drug testing for student athletes is not logical is because the cost of the drug testing is so expensive. In the article, “Tbe K12 Drug Testing Dilemma”, Carroll County says that she spends “about $15,000 a year to enforce the drug testing policy.” (Lacey) This is a ridiculous amount of money for school to be paying every year. Furthermore, think about the news recently and how many schools have been forced to cut their music and arts programs because they don’t have enough money. Is the money being used for drug testing? I’m sure that many students and parents would not be allowed Also in the article, they talk to Terry Jones, an assistant superintendent who says that the “budget the school has for the drug testing limits how many student can be tested every year.” This shows that even if schools realized how to budget their money and only put a certain amount of money to the side for the drug testing the money wouldn't even be put to good use because there wouldn't even be enough money to test all the athletes therefore the tests would be useless and wouldn't even catch all of the students who could be doing drugs. Some people may say that $15,000 is not a lot of money for a school to produce but think about how all of the money the school get comes from the taxes you pay, so if you want to support the drug testing in schools you must also support the raise in your taxes.

In many high schools around the country, student athletes are using drugs. “The percent of students that have drunk alcohol is 72.5% while the number of students who have used marijuana is 36.8%” (Report: Nearly Half of High School Students Using Drugs, Alcohol). The students believe that since they are athletes that they do not need to abide by the rules because they feel more superior and that the narcotic will not hurt or affect them. Implementing random drug tests for athletes will create a positive image and not hurt others or themselves. Schools need to have drug tests for student athletes because drugs effect relationships, using drugs have consequences, and lastly they have a major effect on the body.

Drugs are something that everyone in their life have to deal with. Many parents would feel more comfortable with officer’s drug dogs wondering around the school, just to be safe. In some ways, this could be very beneficial for the school to do just so everyone knows there going to be safe and ok. Having a safe environment to go to school is would be the ideal school, but most schools now and days are filed with druggies who haven’t been caught. A good way they could get caught is by these drug dogs. By getting caught it might teach them a lesson on why they shouldn’t do drugs. Also by getting caught it can help them get better health again. Overall there are some good reason on why the drug dogs should come to our schools.

Prescription drug abuse among college students is a growing trend on most campuses. Students are using these drugs inappropriately to not only “get high”, but to help with concentration when cramming for papers or tests, to self-medicate for anxiety or depression, and even to enhance their stamina when playing sports. Many people have stereotypes of what an alcoholic or addict is, and most people don't associate that image with young students. Although drug education has been mandatory in the US throughout grade school drug use continues to rise in college students. College is known as a time for experimentation, but for some students experimentation can turn

Another issue of drug testing student athletes is that it is also known to be ineffective. Drug testing will not point out students who are facing drug abuse and will not be able to help them. Studies found no difference between drug use in schools with and without testing. “A 2003 study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse – the largest of its kind – examined 94,000 students at 900 schools in the U.S. and found no difference between levels of drug use at schools that test their students and those that do not,” (Cosner). Drug use will still be existent in high schools. Studies conclude that drug use in schools that use testing and those that don’t. In fact, students may stop using drugs easy to detect like marijuana, and start using cocaine, heroin, and drugs similar to those. Students who really enjoy getting involved in sports, but have a strong attraction to drugs, may end up using harder drugs so they won’t get caught. As discussed in the article on The New York Times webpage,

I truly believe that if you can approach and tackle an issue before it arises you have a better chance of preventing long-term issues that will emerge in the future. Through my studies I have learned that if you educate students on bad choice making and the consequences that come from it you have a better chance for those students not to make those bad decisions. For this Midterm Project I plan to target high school students and inform them about drug use and abuse. In my opinion I think that if we teach high school students the effects that drugs can have on your body and your future maybe we can prevent them from using drugs for the first time or stop the issue before it gets out of hand. Students who are in high school can be hard to talk to but if you use material and language that catches their attention your speech can very influential to them. I want to prevent teens from using drugs. I want and need them to be educated on all the harms that illegal substances do to your body immediately after using them and what long-term effects come with it as well. Students should be shown real life examples of citizens who have lived their lives influenced by drugs and examples of successful people who have chose a

The problem with drugs is that the responsibility they require is too big for middle school students. In middle school, kids are just learning how to make decisions on their own. This is one reason that drugs are a problem during this time. Peer pressure is a big factor in starting the drugs. This is how it spreads. Testing middle school students for drugs would be a way to solve the problem before it even begins. Middle school is a time where kids are still developing mentally, physically, and emotionally and experimenting with drugs could be-and is-detrimental to this process. If schools were to test for drugs, and a case was found, the teen that came back positive would be educated right away on why drugs are so dangerous.

But with the random drug testing of the students in school the drug use spiked down a lot. This goes to show that drug testing is very useful for students.

I understand that in Braxton High School there has been an incredible increase in student arrest for drug possession during the mist of last school year. Two students died after using drugs at post prom party. The school would now like to activate random drug test. I also understand that a large group of students and parents

Currently schools are searching ways to increase safety and lessen the problems that are found on campuses. Video cameras in the hallways are just the beginning to make campuses safer. But, what if things like drug dogs were allowed to sniff the hallways and pinpoint rooms for drugs in general? Yes, there is the new trend of legalization among states; however it is still illegal in most states across the country. The

On the aircraft carrier Nimitz there was an accident involving drug use by an active duty member. In 1982 the Navy officially started drug testing all active duty personnel. A few years later, in the late 1980’s, the Federal Government started testing workers in jobs that could affect safety of themselves or others. In 1995 drug testing expanded to schools as a drug prevention program. In 1995 there was a Supreme Court case, Acton v. Vernonia School District, where a 12-year-old Oregon boy went to court saying that a mandatory drug test violated his Fourth Amendment rights. (source summary 2). The Fourth Amendment to the constitution gives people the rights to feel safe against unreasonable searches and seizures and requires a warrant to be given by a judge with probable cause. There have been four other court cases involving drug testing and Fourth Amendment rights, with Acton v Vernonia being the first case to challenge the testing being used in schools. In each case the Supreme Court ruled in favor, saying that drug testing is completely legal. In one case, Board of Education of Independent School District No. 92 of Pottawatomie County v. Earls, the court stated that “school district’s drug testing program was a “reasonable means” of preventing and deterring student drug use and did not violate the Fourth Amendment. (source summary

If you saw police officers and drug sniffing dogs approaching a high school, would you think anything of it? Probably not. In the world we live in today, this has become part of the "norm", as it is a common attempt to decrease on school drug usage. Unannounced school searches, with the use of drug sniffing dogs, prevent illegal drug use and provide punishment for students not abiding by the law.

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.

Drug use in America is one of the major issues we face and the problem has skyrocketed over the past three decades. Heroin and painkiller addictions exceed all other countries. It is important that we address some of the causes that lead to the abuse, how to treat the abuse, and how to prevent the distribution of illegal prescription drugs.

Introducing the fear to students on drug testing that will directly affect them, will most likely decrease the use of drugs being abused. The president of the Institute for Behavior and Health explains that RSDT (Random Student Drug Test) could be used on any athlete, any day, and any time without notice (DuPont et al ¶6). Making the testing random will help eliminate any cheating or strategizing that the students who would test positive could be doing. Keith Ablow, MD and psychiatrist published an article in 2011 said that, both varsity and junior varsity teams should be tested with results kept private (¶6). To only test Varsity athletes would be unacceptable because JV athletes could cause just as much harm to athletes around them as to themselves. To make it fair and because kids follow by example, coaches would test also (Ablow ¶ 9). When a positive test appears, there should be punishment, but not to the extent of expulsion. Guidelines to RSDT programs say it is not supposed to end up in punishment for drug tests (DuPont et al ¶25). Not giving any punishment would defeat the purpose because then kids would not care to stop their drug use. Random drug tests to not only student-athletes, but students in general will promote a healthier lifestyle without drug use (DuPont et al ¶5). Students should be on edge not knowing if they are going to be tested or