Ron Rodriguez from County Academy used drugs every day to function. He became so wrapped up in his lifestyle of buying and selling drugs that he felt like a prisoner. His grades dropped below average. For 2 years, he asked for help saying, “Should I go see a therapist?” to anyone that would listen. Ron would flush his system out before the annual drug test, and pass. When County Academy decided to give random drug test instead of annual tests, Ron received the help he needed. The school counseled him, in privacy, and told him he needed to go to rehab. Ron received the help he needed because County Academy found a student whose life was being taken over by drugs and helped influence him to get the proper help he needed. Today, Ron attends County Academy as a junior; he is drug free. This story serves as a great example of how drug testing helps keep students away from using drugs. Drug testing students can help prevent the use of a mind altering substance. Testing potentially offers guidance for logical decisions to be made. A school having random drug tests could help lessen drug use and offer help to those feeling controlled by substance addiction. Drug testing in schools are a potential way of enabling better brain development. Testing can teach a student about becoming employed, for most jobs require a drug test for pre-employment and future employment. Drug test teach students to be accountable for their own actions. Non-prescribed drugs are currently illegal for children and adults to use for personal satisfaction, such as achieving a euphoric state of mind or selling for profit. Drug testing in schools is a positive reinforcement on students.
Testing for drugs among a student body can help prevent drug use. Pro...
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... from poor efforts exerted in the classroom.
Drug test are a positive reinforcement in helping students. Helping students find their full potential are a schools main goal. If random drug test would have been applied sooner at County Academy, Ron probably would have not had to suffer through drug addiction. If students would understand those drug tests are actually there to help them, they wouldn’t fear taking a drug test. Drug test are a positive reinforcement.
Works Cited
Walters, John P. "Student Drug Testing Is Necessary." Opposing Viewpoints: Privacy. Ed. Jamuna Carroll. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. University of West Alabama. 16 Mar. 2010 .
In Vernonia v. Acton, the issue in question is the school’s ability to drug test student-athletes. In the mid 80’s, the Vernonia School District noticed an uptick in drug use, and more so from athletes. Furthermore, the football and wrestling coach cited several situations that he felt drug-use was causing the athletes to be unsafe. Thus, the school instituted a mandatory drug test for all student athletes prior to the season, and then weekly random drug testing. If a student-athlete failed a test, they would have the choice of joining a rehab program, or serving a suspension. Suspension from school was never an option, nor were the results reported to authorities. Results were reported to the superintendent, athletic director, and other personnel on a need to know basis only (Vernonia v. Acton, 1995).
“Search and Seizure. Suspicionless Drug Testing. Seventh Circuit Upholds Drug Testing of Student Athletes in Public Schools. Schaill v. Tippecanoe County School Corp., 864 F.2d 1309 (7th Cir. 1988).” Harvard Law Review. 103 (Dec. 1989): 591-597.
The drug is a big problem at many colleges today, and is getting worse by time. There are more and more drugs circling in college atmospheres, where many students aren’t aware. If people learn what is happening around them, and watch out for each other, the problem should be able to be contained.
...ng drugs will have a huge impact on them and the people that they are around. When a person does drugs once, they will keep using them and eventually become addicted. Drug testing student athletes is a necessity because taking drugs affects relationships that the athlete has, drugs cause consequence that can be detrimental, and lastly taking drugs hurt the body causing the athlete to have health issues. Hence, drug testing should be done in all high schools around the country.
Mckinney, Joseph R. "The Effectiveness and Legality of Random Student Drug Testing Programs Revisited." RandomStudentDrugTesting.org. 2005. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
In my opinion I feel that this time of authority drug test are not effective. ” It would seem that if this policy were to make way that there would not be such a large rate of recidivism” (U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1999). It takes more that sending a person to prison to break them of their habits. The means which are necessary to aid the cause of ending a drug habit are not available with this policy. Under the Bill of rights, the four rights that this policy violates are, The right to be assumed innocent until proven guilty, the right against unreasonable searches and seizures, the right against self-incrimination, and the right to be treated the same as others.
The United States government projected $25 million to support schools in school-based drug testing and other drug-free programs. In 2003, many schools across the nation provided their own funding for student drug testing programs. The President wants to increase this program for 2005. He also wants to continue funding for ONDCP. This media campaign sends anti-drug messages to young adults via web sites, functions, and events on drug awareness. This approach will include information for parents and youth to encourage early intervention against drug use in 2005.
Drugs cause an overall disturbance in a subjects’ physiological, psychological and emotional health. “At the individual level, drug abuse creates health hazards for the user, affecting the educational and general development of youths in particular” (“Fresh Challenge”). In youth specifically, drug abuse can be triggered by factors such as: a parent’s abusive behavior, poor social skills, family history of alcoholism or substance abuse, the divorce of parents or guardians, poverty, the death of a loved one, or even because they are being bullied at school (“Drugs, brains, and behavior”) .
The ethics of drug testing has become an increased concern for many companies in the recent years. More companies are beginning to use it and more people are starting more to have problems with it. The tests are now more than ever seen as a way to stop the problems of drug abuse in the workplace. This brings up a very large question. Is drug testing an ethical way to decide employee drug use? It is also very hard to decide if the test is an invasion of employee privacy. “The ethical status of workplace drug testing can be expressed as a question of competing interests, between the employer’s right to use testing to reduce drug related harms and maximize profits, over against the employee’s right to privacy, particularly with regard to drug use which occurs outside the workplace.” (Cranford 2) The rights of the employee have to be considered. The Supreme Court case, Griswold vs. Connecticut outlines the idea that every person is entitled to a privacy zone. However this definition covers privacy and protection from government. To work productively especially when the work may be physical it is nearly impossible to keep one’s privacy. The relationship between employer and employee is based on a contract. The employee provides work for the employer and in return he is paid. If the employee cannot provide services because of problems such as drug abuse, then he is violating the contract. Employers have the right to know many things about their employees.
“A medical dictionary defines a drug as ‘any substance that when taken into the living organism may modify one or more of its functions’” (Newton 12). However, when speaking of drug testing for abuse a person is usually thinking about illegal drugs or drugs that can alter athletic performance in sporting events. Mandatory drug testing was not allowed in public schools until June 2002 when the Supreme Court allowed for public schools to do random drug testing (Carroll 23). This decision allowed for drug testing in all schools throughout the United States not just for athletes but also students who are in any activities within the school, for example clubs and competitive events (Carroll 23). Even though drug testing is now allowed by the Supreme Court many schools do not yet have mandatory drug test policies. Mandatory drug testing for high school athletes should be required because it decreases drug use in schools, is relatively inexpensive, and can prevent drug use and or abuse that can lead to a lifelong addiction.
Liberties Union/Drug Law Reform Project and, Drug Policy Alliance. Rpt. in Privacy. Roman Espejo. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.
Drug testing is essential to the public to prevent substance abuse. Since drug users tend to abuse drugs in any way they can get out of. The benefits of drug testing help society to be safe. Also drug testing can change the community to become more successful. Safety of workplaces often gives drug testing due to preventing violence and safety at workplaces for employees. Drug testing can be a hardship for drug users due to they sometimes need it for medicine, but some other people take advantage of drug usage that makes society unsafe. That’s why drug testing helps eliminate unacceptable substance that happens in the society.
I. Drug testing is meant to help clean our communities and the schools from drug related problems. Drug testing is an easy yet complicated test for many people. Statistics have shows a dramatic decrease of drug use and abuse in between the years of 2000-2006 (University Services, 2009). The U.K.’s country wide drug testing have helped show scientists all over the world the improvements that drugs testing at schools can make.
High school students are leaders to younger kids and many others in their community. As a leader these student must show others what good character is like, but instead they are destroying their lives by doing drugs. In the past decade the drug use among high school students is on the rise once again. With the internet, their exposure to drugs is much greater. High school students are convinced that they are able to get away with using drugs. These drug addicts soon influence other students into doing the drugs because there isn’t a rule preventing drug use. In order to protect these student’s future, drug tests must be enforced among all students ensuring a safe environment for students to learn successfully. Allowing random drug testing in high schools will shy away students from trying these harmful drugs. The stop of drug use among high school students is crucial because drugs prevents student from learning leading them to dropping out of high school. Students that become overwhelmed by these harmful drugs will ruin their lives forever, but if steered in the right direction they can be saved.
...they quit and then they were to be retested in ninety days. If the student tested positive again after the ninety days, he or she would be expelled from school and forced to enroll in substance abuse classes. These policies offer consequences to scare students, but more need to be added. The new policy would allow students three strikes before they are expelled. The first time a student fails the test, the student’s parents would be notified of what their child has done and the student would be retested. If the student fails the second test, they would be suspended and forced to attend a substance abuse class while on suspension. If that did not work and the student failed the test for a third time, the student would be expelled and put in a detox program. With those consequences, the students would decrease their use of illegal drugs if not stop it all together.