Essay on Random Drug Testing is a Waste of Time

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 can result in teens not doing well in school, which can lead to lower academic opportunities and career options.

Say no to drugs! Goggle search said “Drugs are one of the top causes of teen deaths and suicides in the United States.” Drugs have been around for years and each year the death rates and suicide rates have increased dramatically especially in teen students. This is why it is very important that parents teach their kid at an early age about drugs. The Teachers and school staff are trying their best to teach the kids that drugs are not cool. The schools think it is best that all Middle School Students should be drug tested. The drug-testing program serves as a deterrent for middle school students that are encountering drugs of all kinds, including steroids, alcohol and marijuana.

Reading “Go Ask Alice” did, however, change my perspective in to what type of teenager can get in to drugs. Alice was your ordinary girl that never showed the slightest interest in drugs, yet she got hooked in the most severe way possible. There were other girls that she came across with that did show tell signs that they could become drug addicts. Several of them had drug issues because of a previous incident. For example, one of the girls she was with had been getting raped since the age of 12. People who suffer this type of abuse are almost always prone to drug abuse. What shocked me the most was that a girl like Alice had gotten hooked. She did not come from a broken home, she had no previous emotional traumas, she was a person who you would have thought to be a regular

The goal of mandatory drug testing would be to reduce student substance by deterring substance use, detecting substance use, and the influence of the behaviors of students peers. Students involved in extracurricular activities, such as sports that are subject to in school drug testing, report less drug use than students in high school that do not play a sport and do not get drug tested. By drug testing the Athens student body would help by insure a safe, secure, and healthy school environment where students can reach their full academic potential to learn. Athens High schools goal should be to identify students with possible drug abuse issues and to intervene. Students should be required to take drug test to be allowed to park on campus. Less drugs in

NIDA believes drug testing will help kids say no to peer pressure. NIDA talks about the testing methods and the laws to be able to use drug test in and on workplaces, schools, adults, and students. This article is for helping people say no to peer pressure and drugs. The strong points are found in the long-term effects and the short-term effects on drug testing. The articles weak points are that there are not many facts to back up the methods NIDA

Secondly, even when telling the students that the drug test is approaching, it does not decrease the usage of drugs. In those high schools that tested athletes, between the drug test surveys given to students by University of Michigan research investigators, there was roughly a 94 percent agreeance between the students at both of the schools that implement drug testing policies and those who do not, that they had been using drugs within the last year (Swanbrow). Furthermore, the test do not deter students from taking other drugs that will not show up on the test. The University of Michigan research investigators even surveyed experienced marijuana users and asked how the drug test would impact their usage of it and other drugs. The students essentially said that even when knowing the test was coming they were still going to take the drugs and still manage to pass the test by using others urine for example. The data from students surveyed from drug testing and non-drug testing schools stated that their usage of drugs was almost exactly the same, roughly a six percent difference between the two. Therefore, the drug testing programs

However, drug testing is constitutional and has proven to be useful nationwide in America. A simple search on the World Wide Web will unveil the truth about the constitutionality of drug testing in America. Two major cases from Supreme Court, Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton and Board of Education of Independent School District No. 92 of Pottawatomie County, et al, Petitioners v. Lindsay Earls et al, involved the challenging of officials’ ability to drug test students in order to participate in extracurricular activities. In both cases, the ruling resulted in a majority declaring these test requirements to be constitutional (“Prevention”). Along with the fact that testing has held its constitutionality in Supreme Court, evaluations have proven that the testing process effectively minimizes drug use among high school students in extracurricular activities. “Some 16 percent of students subject to drug testing reported using substances...in the past 30 days, compared with 22 percent of comparable students in schools without the program (‘The Effectiveness’).” This fact means that six percent less students in the high schools studied were not using drugs in the schools which had been implementing the drug tests. If this same number would be a proportionate reflection of all high schools in America, six percent more of high school students - about 3.3 million teenagers - would not be utilizing drugs and contracting the painful consequences later in life (“Fast Facts”). That is a humongous number which means a humongous number of kids would be drug-free, living healthier lives with even brighter futures. The constitutional drug testing in high school athletics could save over 3 million kids from having to endure possible years of life with painful illnesses like cancer during

“You want to get in there and plant these seeds of what’s out there and do prevention early.” Kids in middle school are exposed to so many things at an earlier age than they were 20 years ago. This could because the access of the drugs is so much easier these days with all of the social ​media, and cell phones. The counteraction of exposing them to the education and prevention of drugs will reduce the negative symptoms and results of drug use. Early drug testing would also send a message to kids that this is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in our schools. There are so many factors at risk with early drug experimentation by kids of such a young age, that drug testing in middle school is something that schools should really start

of drug use. Also, all students must submit to the test, making it 1) suspicionless, and 2)

There are three main types of drug education, sensational, affective and social. (Reist 19) With the first approach, educators use sensationalist claims and scare tactics to prevent young adults from trying drugs. This method has been proven to be remarkably ineffective, with recipients being more likely to turn to hard drugs and overdose. The second method, the affective approach, was not better. This method was based off the assumption that drug users and alcoholics have a chemical dependency because of a personal weakness or deficit. However, this method refused to acknowledge the recreational users at all. This was a major problem because people can use certain drugs and alcohol in small quantities, in a social setting without ruining their lives. These classes focused on improving decision making skills and improve individual self-esteem. The most current form of drug education focuses on helping young people resist social pressures to use drugs or alcohol. Although these programs have received more funding that other drug education programs, they are still ineffective, with the best programs only stopping or delaying drug use in the very small number of students. (Reist 21) For an education program to be effective, students need to receive truthful information about drugs and their impact on the body. Take cannabis for example, the current system teaches kids that trying

This would conclude that drug testing programs did not meet these expectations. This paper will support the idea that drug testing in the work place does not increase productivity, and that it costs more money than it saves for those businesses.

Many students used prohibited drugs. Schools must required drug testing to filter out the drug users. If they already know the people who used drugs, they will proceed to counseling. In that way, they will know the reasons of the students why they are taking prohibited drugs. The guidance counselor is the one who will guide the students for good. If someone is detected using drugs it is not important that they are caught doing wrong and they will not be kicked out of the school.(Pemberton/2011/par.3) Instead, he or she will be helped by the school for guidance. Mandatory drug test can help for student's future career. If he or she is not guided by the school, he or she will not succeed in life. Mandatory drug test can also help from student's safety. It can benefit a lot someone's

However from the point of view of a teacher, parent or whoever is for the testing, it is done to protect the students. Many children or young adults that experiment with drugs do not understand what the drugs can do to their minds and bodies. With the testing schools will be able to determine which students need help and can better focus on treatment, and helping the student to understand the consequences of their actions not necessarily disciplinary but on the issue of health. As far as helping the students goes it is much easier to teach the students about drugs when it is known which students are doing them or have tried them. Time will not have to be wasted by explaining, "why drugs should not be taken" to a student that is taking them wile they could focus on treatment to deter the student from taking them.

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