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New Jersey School District to Drug-Test Middle Schoolers
Filed under: In The News, Alcohol & Drugs
A New Jersey school board voted to start random drug testing for middle-schoolers. Credit: Getty
The testing is necessary, Belvidere School District Board of Education President Brian Smith tells the newspaper, "because sixth and eighth graders use drugs. ... We want to change student behavior."
Only two school board members voted against the measure, which includes a separate alcohol testing policy, as well, according to the Express-Times.
"I haven't seen compelling evidence random drug testing is the answer for preventing students from doing drugs," board member Jane Bullis tells the newspaper, saying she believes it's an issue better handled privately by parents.
Under the drug-policy revision, which extends a program already in place at Belvidere High School to Oxford Street Elementary School, students in grades six through eight can volunteer to be added to a pool from which they could be randomly selected for drug testing.
Earlier this week, Oxford Elementary School Principal Sandra Szabocsik told ParentDish she had received mostly positive feedback from the parents she's spoken to about the proposal.
Administrators claim the program would serve as a deterrent to drug use and provide students a way out from peer pressure. For students who test positive, it presents an opportunity for education and counseling, officials tell the Express-Times.
"I've seen a lot of children take the wrong road," Superintendent Dirk Swaneveld tells the newspaper. "The sooner we can get to them, the better."
School officials claimed earlier this week that kids who test positive will not be punished, nor will the police be notified. Rather, they would get counseling or be referred to a drug rehab center. Szabocsik told ParentDish she's not sure what will happen if a student refuses to get counseling.
"Belvidere is a small town and there's not a whole lot to do," Szabocsik told ParentDish earlier this week. "The younger kids tend to hang out with their older brothers and sisters. The hope is that knowing that they may be drug tested at school the next day will serve as a deterrent."
The American Civil Liberties Union disagrees.
"Random drug testing does not reduce drug use among young people," Jay Rorty, director of the ACLU Criminal Law Reform Project, tells ParentDish. "The high cost of false positives and intrusive nature of the test make random testing a poor tool in the important work of drug education."
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 2)
1-13-2011 @ 2:22PM
Bec said...Why dont "they" start drug testing people on welfare? If they fail---no check. My company can random test anytime...and if I were to fail...I'm fired.
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1-13-2011 @ 2:49PM
richard weinstein said...enough with this "big brother" is watching you stuff. No amount of testing or punishment will stop kids from taking drugs. We need better family structure and better parenting. It seems that a much larger percentage of today's parents are divorced, seperated or working full time. Kids need limits, boundries and lots of nurturing and love if we expect them to not need drugs. Drugs are a symptom of problems such as poor self-esteem and the need to self medicate because the person is feeling really bad! Stop with the prisons, jails, DEA etc.... get rid of them all and use the zillions we spend on prosecution, incarceration, salaries and perks to build a proper model to stop the need to use drugs. This can only be accomplished in a no jail no prosecution environment where people aren't afraid to admit that they have a need to use drugs. I grew up in the 60's and had all the chances in the world to use drugs but I didn't need to use drugs because my parents were there for me 100% of the time and served as great role models. Addiction is a considered a disease so why the hell do we allow the DEA and the police to "treat" the problem by locking people up. Being a disease it should be treated by medical professionals.
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1-13-2011 @ 2:54PM
firstcitizenusa said...This is another example of how the F.O.P. and the military group CADRE and their unholy alliance called the Partnership for a Drug Free America are using their influence to subjigate The Constitution and bring this nation under marshal law by trampling on the Bill of Rights with drug testing. The goal of these groups is to make drug users a socio-economic "Jew" on whom all the ills of our society can be blamed on since the world will not allow another race to be blamed like the Jews were in Nazi Germany. I say that people should stand up against this insanity instead of applauding such stupid acts as random drug tests of students. As for drug testing in the work place it too is completely wrong being a creation of big business, the corrupt insurance industries and the fed government in other words Big Brother is alive and well in spite of it being later then 1984
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1-13-2011 @ 3:13PM
in1nuthouse said...NO WAY should our GOVERMENT RAN SCHOOLS be allowed to test my UNDERAGE child!!!! Schools need to back off the kids! If the kid is caught AT SCHOOL with drug or alcohol then FULL punishment by the school system should be allowed but to INTRUDE on OUR children SHOULD NOT BE. When are we as Americans going to say ENOUGH already!!!! You want to oppress more people into going crazy?????
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1-13-2011 @ 4:19PM
cyberma777 said...Who decides what is "random?" Will the results be included in their school records? I would remove my child from that school immediately. This is just wrong on many counts.
1-13-2011 @ 3:14PM
mike scotto said...When is this insanity going to stop!!! What's next drug testing our pets?
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1-13-2011 @ 6:52PM
pffftnstuff said...yeah right, either you dont have kids, or you dont care... greatest move our schools ever did.. if you're not for it, then you should have your head examined... stop drugs early, and it might make a difference...if parents were more aware, or caring, they wouldnt have to do this... grow up and accept the respondsiblity that the school is doing, cause you're not....period
1-13-2011 @ 3:19PM
Dave-o said...Just one more area of government intrusion into our personal lives. These Junior High school kids will NOT change their behavior... Didn't you know, each one of them doesn't think THEY'LL be selected. And even if they are, they have to go to counseling??? BFD. Schools should concentrate on TEACHING. Last time I checked, the concensus was they were doing a pretty crappy job at that....
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1-13-2011 @ 3:42PM
Wilbur said...This seems like an invasion of privacy to me. I think the school should only be allowed to test a student if the parents give written permission to the school to do so.
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1-13-2011 @ 7:13PM
Bill said...The parents should have to give a damn first.
1-13-2011 @ 4:23PM
micheleslilsis3 said...I conduct drug testing on students for a living. And let me tell you....it does help to an extent. It is a good deterent for the kids that way to stay away from drugs but give into their peers. And the part in the article stating that there alot of false positives...then you are using the wrong company. We have NEVER had a false positive on ANY of our student test!!!
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1-13-2011 @ 3:50PM
RobRal61 said...I think this is a good Idea. What I would love to see is Obama creating a Law that would Drug Test every person on WELFARE. If people who WORK for a living have to take one why shouldn't the Lazy Ass people who only have children so they can collect their paycheck take the test to. Also they should also have to Tie Their Tubes after the first child if they can not show that they can support themselves or any more children.
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1-13-2011 @ 4:32PM
ryan said...This is pretty much unconstitutional, the students are minors and the school is public, so if a parent objects to the drug testing the student must be exempt. I smell a law suit coming.
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1-13-2011 @ 4:01PM
ELSIE said...UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND ABSURD. IF D.A.R.E DIDN'T STOP THEM, THIS WON'T.
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1-13-2011 @ 4:17PM
ebc0885 said...who's the moron that would agree to have their name added to a list?
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1-13-2011 @ 4:19PM
A. Bajada said...First, God created idiots. That was for practice. Then He created school boards.
Mark Twain
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1-13-2011 @ 4:26PM
eric said...Great, as if NJ didn't have enough problems paying the bills they go and add additional costs. Along the way they further infringe upon the responsibilities of parents. You gonna come tuck them in at night too? I swear, some parents don't even need to feed, clothe or house their children.....the government does it for them. Don't want your kids on drugs then get involved in their lives.
First we dumb down the classes, then we dumbed down the tests, now we're dumbing down the parents.
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1-13-2011 @ 4:34PM
eric said...But it's very simple to fool a UT. You don't need the oddball products sold online. Drink large amounts of water and Gatorade, avoid caffinated drinks, drop in a few grains of salt secreted under a fingernail and give mid stream samples. I work for a drug rehab, we know all the tricks. The kids will figure it out quick enough.
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1-13-2011 @ 4:37PM
Coop said...First of all, the article clearly states that the drug testing is voluntary, so pull your panties out of your butt crack and unpucker. Secondly, it's a school. Schools need to be able to prevent disruptive influences and activities and have every right to do so. This isn't random locker searches. And, it's not like the zero tolerance bans on weapons which can and have been idiotically applied to kick kids out of school for bringing butter knives in their lunch bags. Meth is meth and a joint is a joint; if your kid has one in school, they need to be NOT in school or at least not in the same school with other kids. Finally, middle school kids are not "addicts" and don't need to be mollycoddled as at least one commenter suggests. They are either experimenting or dealing and need to learn very quickly neither one of those paths ends well. This is a great program. I'm going to suggest it to our local school board.
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1-13-2011 @ 5:40PM
rebecca said...DUH!!!!!! Cooper you need to take a 101 reading comprehension course. It is NOT voluntary. Children in grades 6th through 8th CAN VOLUNTEER to include there name in pot. Everyone else WILL BE randomly selected which leads to the next question who do they determine should be tested? The student who receives mostly D's? As I wrote no way in hell would I agree to this and would fight it tooth and nail!