Random Drug Testing

By: Aniket Biswal

December 13, 2017

Carmel, Indiana

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, 75% of children in middle school and high

school have been subjected to drugs and alcohol or have seen others use it. Most of these

children display poor behavior in school and are failing in their classes. Even though schools

have started taking actions to stop these drugs from coming, the results have been very poor so

far with the levels of drugs staying the same. Schools need a new way to figure out how to keep

the drugs out of the buildings, keep the students safe and focused on education.

The day of November 23rd 2017 started as any normal day here at Creekside Middle School.

However, after the first block class, a student went to his locker only to find a search dog barking

at it. A police officer investigated his locker which contained opioids, painkillers, and even some

marijuana. The boy was suspended for drug use for three weeks. The school authorities currently

conduct random drug tests only once per semester; this happened to be the same day as when this

boy kept drugs in his locker. With only one test per semester, many kids can still get away with

selling or using drugs in school. When put into perspective of the entire country, we are looking

at potentially large quantity of drugs going unchecked in many schools.

Rock Hill middle school in Denver, Colorado used to be a quiet and respectable school for

residents living there. However, in recent times, new incidents of illegal drugs and painkillers

have been brought to attention.Since November of 2016, drugs and alcohol have made their way

into the school, making students, teachers, parents feel uncomfortable. The once respected school

is now a safe haven for drugs which has caused district officials to call for action. The entire

school district now has locker drug testing in middle school and high school every two weeks in

order to prevent spikes of any harmful material. This is how drug testing in schools can be

beneficial towards better learning environments and students behavior in classrooms.

The Drug Enforcement Administration recently conducted research on the amount of drugs

students have either seen, used, or heard about in school. An astonishing number popped up:

70-75% of students enrolled in public schools have encountered drugs. Not only this, they also

reported instances of vaping, doping, and smoking. In a recent article published by the New York

Times, the author writes His best estimate lies around 4,880 [drug incidents in Pennsylvania]

statewide for the whole year. This alarming number still hasnt invoked action from the

government. While the government focuses on political issues, local problems are rising fast and

are not dropping. This is why the whole country needs a new solution for solving the issue of

drugs in schools across the nation.

Despite the fact that local governments have set only a small margin of their time in searching

schools for drugs, federal governments can still change the situation in this country with this very

large issue. One possible solution would be to create a new law that conducts unsuspicious tests
at least once every week to check in with the students lockers by using trained dogs to sniff each

one for possible drug possession. Each state has their own ability to decide how much testing

they want to do per week based on the statistics from their schools. This would keep the amount

of harmful chemicals from entering the school down and prevent excess chemicals from entering

the childrens lifestyle. Also, this solution would strengthen the learning environments in the

hallways and in the classrooms so that teachers and students are comfortable being a part of the

curriculum. This more new and improved solution will keep children from going under the

influence of these highly addictive chemicals and create a more hospitable place for everyone.

America is currently facing a complicated issue with the amount of drugs across the nation; most

of it coming from the younger generation still in school right now. How could this country bring

itself down by allowing teenagers to get their hands on life changing chemicals? The only way to

stop the flow of drugs into this nation is by stopping the young folks of America from using it.

Now is the time to take action, fight this issue very seriously and make the children represent

America proudly in the future.