One of the most highly contested issues on school campuses during the past decade is that of testing all students in public schools who participate in extra-curricular activities for drug use. This paper argues both for the legality and the usefulness of such testing to help provide a safe, healthy and appropriate atmosphere in which young people can both excel at their academic work as well as learning important lessons in character building.
U.S. district courts (as well as lower courts) have ruled rather inconsistently on the issue of drug-testing of students. When they have ruled such tests to be constitutionally protected, they have generally limited the number and type of tests that can be performed as well as which students may be legitimately tested (http://www.ncsl.org/programs/educ/drugtestcourt.htm). However, a 2002 ruling by the Supreme Court broadened the rights of schools to test students.
In that case, an Oklahoma school board argued that the lure of participating in extra-curricular activities could be used as a carrot to keep students away from drugs:
The Pottawatomie County (Okla.) school system argued before the court that drug tests were a deterrent for students who knew that they could not participate in their favorite activities if they tested positive for drugs (http://www.naadac.org/pressroom/index.php?PressReleaseID=8).
Such a policy also gives students an "excuse" not to use drugs. Many students use drugs not because they themselves independently want to do so but because they are pressured into doing so by their peers. In other words, there are a large number of students who would like to "just say no" but feel that they cannot do so because they would lose face with their peers. However, if students who are involved in extracurricular activities face continuous drug-testing, they can use this as an excuse with their peers: "I'd love to share that joint with you but you know how much it means to m...