Board approves drug testing
Arrowhead High to test 10 times a year
By BRANDON LORENZ
Special to the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Jan. 9, 2008
Town of Merton – Arrowhead High School became the second high school in Waukesha County to begin randomly testing students in athletic or competitive activities for drugs, after assurances from administrators that the program was legal and wouldn’t create false positive test results.
The School Board voted 8-1 Wednesday night for the program. Board member Judie Ristow voted no.
Superintendent Craig Jefson said the policy was modeled after programs in the Pewaukee and Waunakee school districts.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled such tests legal six years ago.
25% of students qualify
Students would be subject to random tests if they are involved in competitive activities where they represent the school, such as athletics, as long as the activity is not required as part of a credited course. That would mean about 25%, or approximately 600, of the school’s students could be eligible for testing each year.
Here is the full story.
This is ridiculous. Their parents should sue the school.
On the facts as presented in the story, a lawsuit against the school wouldn’t have a chance.
However, that doesn’t refute your contention that the policy is “ridiculous.”
The correct solution to the drug problem is to make drugs legal. The problems are the laws. We have no right to interfer with people’s choices.
Then once legal we educate people to not use them. We control their distribution and we collect taxes on them. That puts the criminals out of business. It is ridiculous that we spend 60 billion a year to drive up the price on drugs so criminals can make huge profits. Our laws are stupid and backward.
If people do use drugs we offer them free medical assistance to get off them. Many people have walked away from the use of alcohol and drugs. We can show people how to do it by raising their self esteem and getting people an education and a good job.
Throwing people into jail and taking away their opportunity to get and education and a good job is all backward and the wrong thing to do. It is also way more expensive.
Let us turn all Americans into productive citizens contributing to this country. Stop throwing our own people into jails and ruining their life with a criminal record.
Anon said:
The correct solution to the drug problem is to make drugs legal. The problems are the laws. We have no right to interfer with people’s choices.
That is a complete joke. I would agree with you ONLY if the government or society had no obligation to clean up the mess from drugs. People get screwed up because they take drugs and then people whine for better and cheaper health care.
If you don’t think that high schoolers are taking steriods to compete in football or baseball you are naive.
you are so wrong on so many levels.
the government is ruining people’s lives by throwing them in jail.
PEOPLE are ruining their OWN lives by doing something ILLEGAL and HARMFUL.
What is wrong is your attitude of “no personal responsibility it is all the governments fault”.
You want to educate people not to use drugs after you legalize them which implies that they are okay??? What drugs are you on?? You don’t think that people try to educate people today?
What color is the sky in your world? Here on earth it is blue.
It was the school board that passed the rule, not the school.
For what injury would you be suing? The only kids subject to drug testing are those who voluntarily participate in extra curricular activities, for which their parents must sign permission documents. And no doubt those permission documents contain statements saying that the parents agree to allow their kids to be tested.
And the penalty for positive tests are that you can’t represent the school in competitions.
In reponse to the comments about liberalising the laws on drugs. I think these test are primarily to detect for performance enhancing drugs. The “correct solution” to the problem of performance enhancing drugs is not to legalise them (in terms of permitting them in sporting competition), as this encourages or is most cases will mandate that the athlete has to take such drugs in order to be sucessful in the sporting activity. As nearly all performace enhancing drugs are in the long term harmful to the users health this is at odds with the underlying ethos of sporting competions that seek to reward people for their healthy lifestyle and physical prowess.
So if a school is aware or suspects that athlete are using drugs they have two sensible options either stop organising all sporting competitions (as they represent a likley health risk to students) or drug test the athletes.
Note that all illict drugs are on the banned substance list for sports. It will be upto the school whether they forward such positive tests to the authorities.