Should it be ok for schools to drug test students? There is a lot of controversy over this current issue, whether it’s a good idea or a bad idea. It has good aspects in the fact that it could dissuade teens in high school from doing harmful drugs. But there are some people that see it as a violation of privacy.

This is not a new debate though, the drug testing issue has been around since 2002. In 2002 the United States Supreme Court upheld the random drug testing of public school students. A 2016 study showed 37 percent of school districts have created a drug-testing policy since 2002. Whether there drug testing policies have been successful is unknown.

A catholic high school in Ohio has announced that they will begin drug testing their students at least once a year. This test will detect drugs and nicotine in the students’ systems. The drug testing program has been created over a two year period and all the students had to agree to it when they enrolled in school. There is no limit to how many times the students can be tested. If the first test comes back positive for drugs, a second drug test will be administered. If the second test comes back positive, an intervention plan will be put into place.

“There’s really no clear indication that implementing mandatory drug testing will directly lead to better and reduced substance abuse rates,” Professor Huang said. Unfortunately there is no way to determine if the new systems are or will successful. But the issue of privacy and wether it will be successful still remains.

For more information- https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/16/us/badin-high-school-drug-testing.html?module=inline