Should Drug Testing Be Mandatory Essay

Mandatory drug testing is a very controversial topic. High schools all over the world test and many have different opinions on the topic. Some believe that this is needed to keep kids drug free. Others, however, believe it is an invasion of privacy and is unconstitutional. The testing is mostly for people who are in extracurriculars. But now some have gone the lengths to require everyone to be tested. Drug testing should not be mandatory. There is not enough evidence to show drug testing lowers the use of drug use, the tests are expensive and not always reliable and the testing really does violate students’ rights. Drug testing throughout the years has gotten very popular. Many schools and people believe it helps kids keep away from doing drugs. This is only partly true. Over time, evidence has shown that tests aren’t as helpful. “The early years of testing saw positive results as high as 27 percent, today that rate has been slashed to only 1.5 percent” (Ballaro and Finley). “ Researchers surveyed 76,000 students across the U.S. and found no correlation between lower rates of drug use and drug testing programs. In total, the researchers looked at 891 schools and found no statistical difference between rates of drug use in schools with testing versus those without” (Pearson). These show that though the tests were very successful in the

Yes, there are many drugs students are able to get a hold of and use, but not everyone is going to. Drugs can have obvious side effects and can take a hard tole on a child. If a school is suspecting a kid of abusing drugs, then they have the right to test them. If they are testing every student, they are abusing the student’s personal rights. Also, the testing can come out to be extremely costly. The tests aren’t positive very often. There are even times when the tests come out as a false positive. By not having mandatory drug testing, schools are taking the much smarter