Drug Testing In Schools Essay

“The opioid epidemic has ravaged communities around the nation — deaths from overdoses now outnumber deaths from car crashes” (Spencer). This quote from a recent New York Times article provides some evidence towards the idea that the United States of America is sprawling with addicts hooked on drugs so widespread, and with no segment of the population more susceptible to them than young adults. The same drug prevention policies and punishments have remained in place at the federal level down to school systems, despite evidence of this growing trend towards usage. Therefore, the changes should occur starting with the group most at risk: children. Schools persist to be locations to buy, sell, and even use illicit materials, but now in greater

They state the high costs remove finances from the educational functions of the school system. For example, according to Dr. Sharon Levy of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the tests can cost “ $24 a pop that works out to about $20,000 per year”(Ingraham). Undeniably, testing an entire school would be extremely expensive in some school systems. However, it is truly impossible to place a dollar value on the safety of children in any community. They represent the future of this country, so they should be protected as such. In spite of this, the cost remains a concern. Instead of drug testing the entire school on a frequent basis, a school system would benefit from only requiring random sample groups. This way a large, representative group of the student body could be identified for use of illicit materials while minimizing the expenses. This, of course, requires quality planning on the part of a school administration to administer the testing in a way that maximizes the effectiveness of finding those students with the most risk of drug use. It is important to note that the tests will still function as a deterrent as the possibility of being caught via tests still remains prevalent. Additionally, random testing can provide financial problems as well. Many schools struggle to provide quality educations without money being diverted towards another field. Therefore, educational institutions should require random testing for their students, if the costs of doing so do not detrimentally affect their ability to teach. These schools must still focus on balancing educational value with student safety, like all others; however, they can do so using less costly measures on the latter goal to ensure the completion of the primary goal. For example, the Department of Education could, at the beginning of every year, assume compliance with testing unless the school proved paying