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OK, LETS GET THE DRUGS OUT OF SCHOOLS.. LET THEM USE THEM ON THEIR OWN TIME.. TEST THEM,, THATS COOL BUT IF YOUR ARE ALREADY CUTTING BUDGETS WITH LESS TEACHERS AND THEN GOING TO SEND ANOTHER TEACHERS SALARY TO TEST DRUGGIES YOU STILL ARENT FOCUSED ON EDUCATION U ARE FOCUSED ON BEING A WARDEN AT SING SING ... LETS BE REAL ,,THE KIDS WHO ARE GONNA DO DRUGS ARE GOING TO DO THEM NO MATTER WHERE THEY ARE BUT U ARE GOING TO PUNISH THE ENTIRE POPULTAITON BECAUSE OF THIS .. SOME PEOPLE HATE USING THE BATHROOMS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS BUT THEN TO GIVE A SAMPLE OF THEIR BEING RATHER ITS WASTE, OR HAIR ,, I FEEL IS TO PERSONAL..

I say kudos to the Alamance BOE for its courage in dealing with this problem. Drugs are becomng the scourge of our society, draining the productivity and creativity from many of our young people. The Alamance BOE knew that it had a drug problem in its schools last year and did something about it. Some people criticized them, including parents. Everyone should remember that street drugs and prescription drugs, obtained without a doctor's RX, is illegal. I believe that it is the responsibility of the BOE of any district to ensure the safety of its schools. Ridding them of illegal drugs moves in the right direction of meeting that responsibility. They have a solemn duty to the other students and staff at the school to be sure that conditions are safe, and they are not exposed to such illegal activity. If you will recall, last year, the undercover bust accounted for a lot of students who were selling street drugs to their fellow students.

I suspect that many BOE's, including GCS, would express much concern about drug use among students on campus, then they would go about their business and not take any action to combat it. Again, kudos to Alamance.

One thing I don't understand....... why are those involved in extracurricular activities the only ones subjected to random testing? Drug usage is illegal for all students so what is the reason for targeting only a segment of the population?

Good point, Kay. You probably have more drug use among the every day students who are skipping class or don't have any positive extra curricular
interests.

The year was 1976,the place was Andrews High School

If you wanted to catch a buzz before class,you went right outside the shop class between periods,smoke a big doobie and float on in to beat the bell.

The teachers and administrators of the day would have had to have been Idiots not to have known this was going on.

As long as there was no trouble,this practice of class preparation was over looked.

I must admit that I, Lt. Gen. Slak, on occassion was coerced into this activity, though I did not inhale and to this day am not proud of this part of my past.

Things have not changed in 30 years, to some kids a good high is the only way they find to cope with the pressures of teenage life, just like the School board member that might pop a Valium before an important meeting or a Superintendent that has a Scotch on the rocks to knock the edge off after a bogey on the 18th hole.

If you truly want to clean the system, test everyone from the Superintendent to Janitor to the Student.

I agree that everyone should be tested if anyone is going to be tested at all. I have a question though. What happens when they do find something? Ideally, you would hope the testing would discourage use; but as we know, many kids that are "smart" enough to use drugs to begin with will be "smart" enough to use them before or during school. I don't know about Alamance County Schools, but we have a "No Tobacco" policy in Guilford County schools right now that students are constantly violating and the consequences (ISS,Tobacco Education classes, OSS) do not seem to make a difference. Also, when would testing occur? Would there be random testing or would students know beforehand? While I do believe testing could prevent problems, I would be concerned about its implementation and the possiblity that it violates civil rights.

Andi and Lt. Gen. Slak make a lot of sense.

First Andi - I too would be concerned about possible violation of civil rights? Who would you test? I have written on numerous occasions about the smoking in the bathrooms which is prohibited. Surely the teachers know; the kids do. Nothing is done. Teachers don't get the support if they do report; or the consequences are not effective.

What I would prefer to see would be possible locker searches if you have do cause. That is school property and different from personal drug testing. With drug testing, what if someone ate poppy seeds for lunch that day? The test could be a false positive.

Also as someone said, what do you do to those who test positive.

I really appreciate Lt. Gen's writing style. A drug is a drug. Children learn by example whether it is a joint; a valeum or some Scotch. Drug of choice.

One difference though is the age factor.

Years ago in Virginia we had a group of friends; some where Navy helo pilots and liked to smoke pot on the weekend. When the Navy started doing random urine tests, the pot smoking ended abrutly. But this involves possibly crashing an aircraft and ruining one's career vs not possibly passing a test for a student.

I would love to see all drugs out of school, but how do you really stop it without an invasion of privacy and possible lawsuits for violating someone's civil rights?