Lara Jakes Jordan
Associated Press
Jan. 31, 2004 12:00 AM
WASHINGTON - Garrett Dush, 16, says he doesn't take drugs and wouldn't mind being tested for them at school under a program being championed by President Bush.
But his father, Cris, is concerned about how the high school sophomore from Brookville, Pa., or other students would be selected for testing.
"It'd have to be random," Cris said."If the kid is going to feel targeted . . . I wouldn't want that."
The idea of steering America's kids clear of drugs has broad support. But the White House plan to increase testing in schools is drawing sharp criticism from some parents, school administrators and civil liberties activists.
Bush's plan would expand a $2 million program that last year funded drug testing in eight school districts. A Supreme Court case in 2002 upheld the authority of schools to test students who participate in extracurricular activities such as sports teams.
Federal guidelines under which those students are tested have been kept deliberately vague to give schools and communities broad discretion. But Bush and his drug policy director insist test results be kept confidential.
"The aim here is not to punish children but to send them this message: 'We love you, and we don't want to lose you,' " Bush said.
Word can still get out, said some administrators and critics. That's troubling to civil liberties groups who say children who need help could end up in jail instead.
"They're saying this is to help, not punish," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance in New York, which guards against government privacy violations and questions the effectiveness of drug testing. "But it always starts with that. And inevitably, the next shoe to drop is: 'We need to punish people in order to help people.' "
In Nelson County, Ky., all high school athletes in fall sports were tested for drugs. This spring, students involved in other extracurricular activities, like band or yearbook, also will start random testing, said Karen Johnson, district director of federal grants.
Students who test positive are temporarily pulled off their team and receive counseling from a school adviser, Johnson said. Police are not called, and students rarely, if ever, risk being suspended or expelled from school, she said.
Republican lawmakers, led by Rep. John Peterson of Pennsylvania, are pushing legislation to let school districts randomly test all students in grades 8-12, not just those in after-school activities.
Less than half of school districts test any students for drugs, said Paul Houston, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators. Those that do have scant resources to follow up with medical intervention.
Privacy concerns are another matter.
In most cases, students who test positive are sent to school counselors instead
of doctors, said Julie Underwood, general counsel for the National School Boards
Association. For the most part, she said, schools "are real good about
student privacy," but word of a positive drug test can still get out.