by Michelle B. Smith

Created on: July 21, 2009   Last Updated: July 25, 2009

Public schools should require mandatory drug testing. With many governmental programs and employment requiring testing, why not publicly funded schools? It is true that public schools have many rules that teachers, parents and students must comply. However, these rules are seldom followed and this is the exact reason why the American education system is in the state it is in currently.

Most government officials and employees have a certain amount of responsibility to the country and are subject to drug tests and even on-facility searches such as work lockers. As a National Guard member, a protector of national freedom, I would face severe punishment for being under the influence. With our students who have just as much responsibility being the future of our country, they should be required to meet a particular set of standards as well.

From the viewpoint of tax payers, would you want your hard earned money going to students who do not even care about attaining an education but would rather get high or shoot up? As an institution funded through federal money, the schools have a responsibility to the students who attend and to the people who are keeping them in business. Is it fair that a student who does not do drugs is being pressured by a peer to experiment with this and that drug? What about the steroid free athlete who works daily at his craft while his juiced up counterpart is easily attracting the attention of one college recruiter after the next?

Obviously, this will be a sensitive issue that cannot be introduced immediately. With a majority of public schools with students from a lower socioeconomic class, many will take this as a subliminal that working class people are more likely to do drugs and commit illegal acts. With the government failing much of the public school system already, they cannot afford to have this blemish upon their record.

The sensitivity of American parents and students is perhaps one of the reasons that our education system is not on par with schools in Canada or England. We continue to want our students safe from school shootings yet are reluctant to install metal detectors. We continue to want better facilities for our students but are reluctant to increase taxes. We now are at the point that we want our students to be safe and in a drug free environment yet do not want to offend anyone by requiring drug testing. Educational wise, we have become a nation of wants but have not adapted to becoming a nation of sacrifice.

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