Preview

Should There Be Drug Tested In Middle Schools Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
455 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Should There Be Drug Tested In Middle Schools Essay
Middle school students should not be drug tested because it invades students rights and there is little to no evidence to prove the program works. The student’s privacy is invaded when they are forced to be tested for drugs or alcohol with little notice and are unsupervised when doing so. There is not much evidence that shows these programs work as far as getting students to stop taking the drugs or alcohol(it’s rare that they even were taking them in the first place). Middle schools should not be testing students for drugs because it invades their privacy and these programs are not proven to be effective.
Being tested for drugs in middle school could be considered an invasion of privacy. Kathy Kierder’s daughter wanted to join the scrapbooking
…show more content…
According to Dr. Linn Goldberg, head of the Division of Health Promotion and Sports Medicine at the Oregon Health and Science University, “Drug testing has never had a deterrent effect.” Goldberg also said most athletes do not differ in their use of drugs and alcohol, even after a test.
This shows that the testing is not needed. It does not stop the kids from doing drugs or drinking alcohol. Not to mention, drugs are almost never found in the students during a drug test.
Some people may argue that drug testing is needed to ensure the kids aren’t doing anything they shouldn’t be, and they also may say that a student taking steroids has an advantage over the other athletes. According to The New York Times, no student has ever been found taking steroids or other human growth hormones. The only drug that officials have ever discovered in a student is marijuana, and even that is a rare instance.
Students are having their privacy invaded by these drug tests which may not even stop the problem. If any kids are on drugs or drinking alcohol, they need therapy, not a test. It will not do them any good. Drug testing in middle school students is unnecessary because it is not known to work and it is an invasion of

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    If schools could educate students more on the topic it could help decrease the amount of teens who use drugs. Parents could also talk to teens about the consequences of using drugs. One thing that is being used in schools is the DARE program, unfortunately this is usually taught to students in middle school. Teens might not remember what they learned or don’t think it can harm them if they are not fully aware of the consequences.…

    • 489 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In a town named Vernonia, Oregon, the local public schools faced a major problem regarding the drug use of students while participating in high school athletics (3). The Vernonia School Board were disturbed that drug use increases the risk of sports-related injury (4), so they approved an anti-drug policy, the Student Athlete Drug Policy, which requires random drug testing of the school’s student athletes (5). However, this became a conflict with the parents of a child named James Acton. The parents refused to sign a consent form to allow their kid to take the drug test because they felt it went against the 4th Amendment’s prohibition against “unreasonable” searches (6). The case was dismissed in the Federal District Court and was appealed to the Court of Appeals for the 9th District (7). This court favored the Acton families’ complaint, but random drug testing in public schools was ruled allowable in 1988 in Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin (8). The case went on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to conclude conflicting court decisions (9).…

    • 1137 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The authors also state that suspicionless searches teach students that rights do not matter. I disagree with the author's point of view on overstating the dangers of drugs in schools. I believe it is a growing concern in our public school system. How do we expect a student to concentrate in class if he is stoned all the time? I think instituting random school searches should be on a case by case basis by school district. Blankenau and Leeper's article do not raise any issues of escalating school violence. Are weapons growing concerns like drugs are? The authors surveyed responses of Nebraska High School Principles to obtain data on how effective their drug polices have been. The article in this book does not allow me to make any comments on the strengths and weaknesses of their field study because they did not go in depth of what the study…

    • 4872 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    All though the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. consitition " the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures (Ehlenberger 1)". School officials do not need probable cause or a warrant to search students, a public school is a place that should foster an environment that is safe and free from criminal activity. Drug dogs search ensures a protected student body and are only minimally invasive. Resource officers, teachers, and administartion with experience in this practice of drug searches often discover many complications with condoning the searches. First, officers need to have a reason to search for drugs.…

    • 845 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The legal foundation for suspicionless student drug testing rests upon Vernonia v. Acton (1995). In that landmark decision, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a school policy requiring student athletes to pass random urinalysis tests as a ground for participation in interscholastic sports. The Court rejected a Fourth Amendment claim asserting that such tests are an unconstitutional invasion of privacy. Closely watched nationwide, the decision effectively opened the door for school districts to institute similar policies of their own.…

    • 658 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Mobius Band

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Children are the future of our country and our world; we ought to initiate preliminary actions to protect their safety and security. In one of its popular articles, “ALCOHOL, DRUGS, AND CRIME”, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence or the NCADD, Claims that children who purchase illicit drugs are also likely to be involved in other crimes, including, gang violence, rape, murder, and assault. By drug testing middle school and high school students, we could be saving their short and innocent lives.…

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Drug Testing in Athletes

    • 857 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Many people do not see the severity of drug use in professional and High School athletics. Drug use in professional athletics is looked upon as somewhat of a serious problem, but also very discrete and low key. Every once in a while and individual might see a prominent figure in a certain sport being reprimanded for the use of an outlawed drug. However , that athlete may just be one of the many who happened to get caught. Athletes today seem to find no moral problem with using performance-enhancing drugs, or in other words, cheating. Athletes feel that because they are "stars" there should be no repercussions for their illegal activity. Today, drug use in sports has reached enormous proportions in society and destroying athletics from the ground up. The use of steroids and other performance enhancement drugs also effects athletes at the high school level. It does not matter how good the athlete is, a zero-tolerance policy should be in place at all levels of competition.…

    • 857 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Studies show that not only drug testing teachers for the students' safety, this act could save lives. Twenty-four year old Gina Riso, a beginning biology teacher at Bangor Area High School, died or heroin overdose. Local police searched her apartment,finding five bags of heroin, a marijuana grinder, a Tic Tac box filled with unknown pills, and pill bottles filler with marijuana seeds and others filled with a white powder. Gina could be alive today; she might have been teaching right this moment. For most people, drug testing has been a fact of life. No business wants his or her souped-up manager working the front counter of their shop.…

    • 449 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    April 2002, police in Ontario, Canada showed up at a high school, without a warrant to search for drugs in students backpacks. When the backpacks were searched, drug-sniffing dogs did in fact find drugs. However, many people felt that the search was unjustified, mainly because the police did not have a search warrant. The Canadian Supreme Court reviewed the case, and in 2008, they ruled that the random search of the Ontario school was unconstitutional…

    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Many ask and wonder if we should drug test but there is no point to it because it’s only a waste of states money.”(Salon Media Group) There is no point to do drug tests. People won’t listen and do the right thing. “Drug tests are expensive it takes a lot of money to get them, Millions.”(Salon Media Group) It’s so much money that’s a waste. I wouldn’t do drug tests id actually use the money wisely. “It is not important to drug test according to congress votes people are angry for the state to lose and be wasting money for something that isn’t worth. (Salon Media Group) Congress and everyone else agrees to not waste money. People are very mad about the money that the state wastes.…

    • 723 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The issue of mandatory drug testing for certain jobs is perplexing and a complicated topic. After hearing both sides of the debate presented in class, I feel that drug testing for certain jobs is a beneficial aspect to incorporate into the workplace. I feel this way due to the potential that testing for drugs in certain jobs such as healthcare, government officials, law enforcement and other occupations that involve decisions that can directly impact the lives of others, has on removing harmful individuals from positions of power and the direct influence that testing has on those individuals to avoid drugs while working.…

    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Student Athlete Benefits

    • 908 Words
    • 4 Pages

    They should be tested every other week or at least once a month. Some might argue that it is an invasion of privacy, but in reality they are just afraid of being caught for doing illegal activities. For one, the consumption of alcohol is illegal for minors, and all high school students are under age. Secondly, athletes represent the school they play for, and they don’t want to be know as the guy or girl that got blacked out drunk the sunday before the game. And last but not least, taking drugs can have an immense negative impact on the student's health. According to, the illustration–How Drugs Affect Sport Performance–on Richard L. Worsnop article it states that although Amphetamines can, “[h]eighten alertness and postpones onset of fatigue,” it can result in long term consequences like, “[f]eelings of anxiety and restlessness, accompanied by rapid heartbeat and breathing; [and] risk of addiction.” Many of drugs taken have similar effect on the body, it enhances the athletes performances, they recover faster, and even let them gain muscle mass, etc. On the other hand, they all have worse long term effects then the temporary effect they athletes do them for. For example, Beta-blockers can cause asthma, erythropoietin can result in a stroke or heart attack, while steroids can cause liver and heart disease, and even sterility (Worsnop). Four year varsity basketball player, Kristopher Nicolas states, “I personally have never taken drugs, but I know of teammates that have. I believe that if one truly loves the sport than they don’t any enhancements to be better at it, it has to come from one's inner motivation. A good pep talk before the game is more than enough to motivate me.” Besides the fact, that alcohol and drug use can have a serious impact on one's health, drugs are illegal, and any student caught should not be allowed to part of a…

    • 908 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Anyone willing to apply for a job or joining the military is subject to random drug tests. Anyone that works and pays taxes helps the welfare system. The reason testing could be justified would be how much fraud is generally found each year alone without drug testing and just by reasonable suspecion. “The Office of Inspector General (OIG) identified $16.67 million in fraud during Fiscal Year (FY)2011 within multiple Michigan public assistance program areas” (michigan.gov). Drug testing would save the government money and help distribute the benefits more to those who actually need…

    • 1328 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Drug abuse is a major problem in our society as a whole and increasingly within our youth. In recent years, many school districts have implemented student athlete drug testing programs within their schools. Athletes were targeted because student athletics are voluntary and the "athletes are often held to higher standards than other students, keeping their grades up for example" (Tantillo, Wen & Morgo, 1995, p. A22).…

    • 1061 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Emily C Mckenna Summary

    • 258 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Schools are now starting drug testing students because of the rate of drug use that’s under the influence. Drug testing in schools will put the students’ rights and the schools’ money at risk. The article ¨Presumed Guilty¨ by Emily C. Mckenna explains that drug testing is against people's constitutional rights. One reason why drug tests put students rights at risk is because that it´s invading the students privacy. Emily C. Mckenna introduces us with the price for drug tests for each student and about constitutional rights. According to Emily C. Mckenna, she states, “ But I do have something to protect my constitutional rights.” (Emily C. Mckenna 77) . The constitutional rights show that drug tests do not have the right to invade people's…

    • 258 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays