Reasons for Drug Testing in Schools
The chances of teens trying something new -- and illegal -- rise dramatically if they feel they won't get caught. Sadly, teen drug use has gone unchecked in many homes and schools, creating a dangerous cycle of increasingly serious drugs entering the school system. Some of these drugs are being sold in the school hallways. Random drug testing in schools is a proven deterrent to student drug use. Many schools have implemented nondisciplinary programs and are seeing dramatic results. The most important reason to implement a program that will deter teen drug use could be the life of your very own child.
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Monetary Costs
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Drug use in schools has a substantial effect on state budgets. Substance abuse increases a school's spending through special education (including students with behavior problems), increased teacher turnover rates, truancy, damage to property, injury to fellow students, counseling and medical treatment. These costs are estimated at an extra $41 billion nationwide to deal with drug problems. By focusing on prevention, many of these costs can be avoided.
Academic Benefits
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Drug use by teens impairs learning and problem solving. Students who use marijuana are more than twice as likely to drop out as nonusers. A national study conducted in 2002 reports that 36 percent of students admitting substance abuse in a previous month had "D" averages. As a result of the underachieving individuals, the whole school scores lower on education quality assessments and can miss out on funding opportunities. Implementing a drug-testing program that discourages drug use decreases the chance that at-risk kids develop these problems. Students in drug-free schools often report feeling safer and consistently perform better. Approximately 80 percent of schools with random drug testing score higher than the state averages on standardized exams.
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Lifelong Impacts
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Drug-using students are more likely to not finish high school, and dropouts spend more time in poverty, more time relying on public assistance and are four times as likely to be incarcerated as those who graduate. One survey found that those who used marijuana, cocaine or alcohol by their senior year were up to eight times more likely to be abusing it when they turned 35 than students who never tried it. Keeping drugs out of schools dramatically increases the chance that drugs will stay out of those students' lives forever. To foster the creation of responsible members of society, schools must implement and enforce drug-prevention programs.
The Ultimate Price
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Random drug testing and other prevention programs hold merit even for parents who know their child is not using drugs. The high number of drug-using teens in schools increases the chance that your child will be in contact with, or in the car with, a teen who is under the influence of drugs. Drug-related behavior problems can lead to deadly in-school violence. Some findings also suggest that illicit drugs play a larger role than alcohol in teen driving impairment. Teen drug use can be deadly, and not just to users.
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