http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/01/31/missouri-high-school-to-collect-students-hair-for-mandatory-drug-testing/
Missouri high school to collect students' hair for mandatory drug testing
Published January 31, 2013
FoxNews.com
A Missouri Jesuit high school is planning to collect hair samples from students to conduct random, mandatory drug tests, a plan administrators say is for the students' own good.
KHSB reports staff members at Rockhurst High School in Kansas City plan to cut off hair samples from 60 random students during the 2013-14 school year and test them for several types of drugs, including marijuana and cocaine. Participation in the program is mandatory.
If a student tests positive, they will have 90 days to produce a negative test.
“Our point is, if we do encounter a student who has made some bad decisions with drugs or alcohol, we will be able to intervene, get the parents involved, get him help if necessary, and then help him get back on a path of better decision making, healthier choices for his life,” Rockhurst Principal Greg Harkness told KHSB.
The school says the record of the student's failed drug test will be destroyed upon graduation, and will never be sent to any college or university. The school was compelled to enact the new policy after a survey of students proved troubling for the administration.
“What was most alarming for us is that when you asked our students if everyone else is doing it, they said 'Yes.' But, in fact, they weren’t. It’s that perception I think among teenagers today that fuels the peer pressure – that there’s this idea that 'Everyone is doing it, so I guess I have to do it myself,” Harkness told KHSB.
The station reports most parents at the school approve of the new plan, but students are mixed.
The school's policy is allowed because it is a private institution. A public school would be restricted from doing the same because of the Fourth Amendment, CBS St. Louis reports.
The local chapter of the ACLU says though not illegal, the school's policy is "a colossal waste of money," CBS St. Louis reports.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/01/31/missouri-high-school-to-collect-students-hair-for-mandatory-drug-testing/#ixzz2JgPnsXIc
I think it is wrong to take peoples hair strands and do random drug test .If im not "under theinfluence" or anything like that why are testing me?
ReplyDeleteI think that they should not do drug tests on students because they are the school not the police. Unless they come to school with the substance it shouldn't be their buisness.
ReplyDeleteI feel the exact same way!
DeleteI think the school shouldn't do drug tests because it has nothing to do with the school. Their basically accussing students of being involved with drugs.
ReplyDeleteWhat if the students don't want them to use their hair? like, im not under the influence or anything, but I hate it when people touch my hair let alone take samples.
ReplyDeleteThat's too severe saying they will never be sent to college or a university, in my opinion that's too strict. And maybe like a drug test once a year or something otherwise it sounds too much.
ReplyDeleteThats so unfair because one its random and two what about the people that have no hair they wont be part of this so is only a few people, leaving out some high school kids.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure that high school youth aren't bald..
DeleteMy friends at centennail shaved their heads btw!(They are bald)
DeleteWhy should the school be able to take hair samples from students? Just because it is for a good cause and for the good of the school, schools cant do whatever they want and take peoples hair. Definitely a violation of peoples rights. (Unless it is in the school code of conduct for the school to take hair samples) xD
ReplyDeleteif they put it in the school code of conduct then they are still violating peoples rights they have the right to keep their hair on their heads and not being tested.
Deletei think that it is somewhat necessary.Since there are more ways than this to see if someone is using drugs. Also this is another way to destroy kids futures.
ReplyDeleteI meant unecessary
DeleteI don't like the fact that students have to be tested at school for their own good rather than the doctor or somewhere else. I just don't like how schools try to act like our parents.
ReplyDeleteThat is not fair because its not like their doing it in face or around the school their doing it on their on time and what they do on there own time is they business.
ReplyDeletewhy would you need a sample of someone's hair for drug test? you a principal stop crossing your boundaries
ReplyDelete*You're a principal
DeleteI dont think it should be any of their concern if im doing drugs ass long as its not at school .They need to mind their own business and leave us be.
ReplyDeleteI don't think what they are doing is fair. They are making students take drug tests and those students will probably have nothing to do with drugs and doubting them. And they are taking random students wich is really weird. It is very random and unusual. I don't think its right.
ReplyDeletei think that they should atleast ask and or warn u before the test you
ReplyDeleteIt's not fair because most teenagers smoke weed , & if they're doing that to make them stop then i dont think it will work. Teens do stupid stuff and want to experiment new things.
ReplyDeletei think testing random students for drugs and alcohol is a good thing for schools to do. i also like that fact that they will get the parents involved. its not like the test will follow them after highschool, but students should not be doing illigal things, so its a good way to stop it. i dont think they should do it by hair samples though. thats just weird
ReplyDeleteIn terms of what the supreme court says, look at this case:
ReplyDeleteNew Jersey v. T.L.O, 469 U.S. 325 (1985): In a landmark case affirming students' rights in schools, the Supreme Court ruled that the Fourth Amendment prohibited unreasonable searches and seizures in public schools. The court constructed a two-part test in evaluating the legality of a search. According to the court, "First, one must consider whether the . . . action was justified at its inception; second, one must determine whether the search as actually conducted was reasonably related in scope to the circumstances which justified the interference in the first place." Under TLO, a search is ordinarily justified at its start when educators have reasonable grounds for suspecting that a search will uncover evidence that a student has violated the law.
While students do have the right to not be searched, all that is need is reasonable grounds for suspecting that a student has violated the law.
The question then becomes, what or who has the right to determine "reasonable suspicion"?