Research Proposal on "Drug Testing in High School Not Just Dealing With Drug Testing Athletes but All Students"

Research Proposal 6 pages (1700 words) Sources: 6 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Drug Testing in High School

The objective of this work is to examine the issue of drug testing in high school and not just in terms of drug testing athletes but of all students and the explain why drug testing in high schools is an important policy issue and the direct impact on education that drug testing of all students potentially has to improve education and learning.

It is stated in the work entitled: "The Overlooked Cause of Children Being Left Behind: Drug Use Compromising Academic Success" that students who are drug-impaired "undermine our country's ability to compete on the world stge. Unfortunately, compared with many of our international competitors, the U.S. is operating at a handicap because too many of our youth, indeed our citizens, are abusing drugs. America represents four percent of the world's population, yet it consumes two-thirds of the world's illegal drugs." (Kreamer and Felds, 2008) Indeed, use of drugs hampers the education of many school children in the United States and it is this among other issues that has led to a call for schools to initiate random drug testing of not only student athletes but of all students in high school. It is reported that the frequency of the use of marijuana and alcohol during the past thirty days was related to academic performance in that of student reporting an a or B. average:

72.2% were students who did not use marijuana in the past month as compared with 58% of those who used marijuana on 1 to 4 days in the past month and 44.9% of those who used marijuana on 5 or more days during the past month; and 72.5% were students who did not use alcohol during the past month as compared with 67.1% of those who used (but did not binge on) alcohol in the past month and 57.7% of those who engaged in past month binge alcohol use. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2006)

II. DRUG TESTING - WHAT IS it?

Random drug testing is conducted through randomized sampling of students on a regular basis for testing for drugs. There are various methods utilized in drug testing including testing of urine, saliva and hair. According to the Student Drug Testing Coalition, drug testing of students can assist in the identification of children "...who have just started using drugs as well as those children who have become dependent so that they may be referred to treatment. Student drug testing programs are developed locally to be specifically tailored to the needs of the community and are non-punitive programs."

III. LITERATURE REVIEW

The work of Yamaguchi, Johnston, and O'Malley (2003) entitled: "Relationship Between Student Illicit Drug Use and School Drug-Testing Policies" relates that schools have "employed a variety of mechanisms for enforcing zero-tolerance policies, including drug testing, metal detectors, closed circuit cameras, and sniff dogs. These policies and procedures are often justified as necessary to ensure a safe, drug-free learning environment." (Yamaguchi, Johnston, and O'Malley, 2003) in 1995 a precedent was set in the case of Vernonia School District v. Acton when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a schools' right "to use random, suspicionless drug testing of all student athletes." (Yamaguchi, Johnston, and O'Malley, 2003) the work of Klauke and Hadderman (1990) states that drug testing in school raising issues "that pertain to both the Fourth Amendment, which protects citizens from unreasonable search and seizure and the Fourteenth Amendment, which requires that citizens be treated as innocent until proven guilty and be accorded due process of law when accused." There has been a great deal of criticism both from a legal and moral standpoint.

The U.S. Supreme Court in the 2002 case Earls v. Tecumseh School District upheld school district rights to drug test students who participated in extracurricular activities." (Yamaguchi, Johnston, and O'Malley, 2003) the Department of Justice issued a report to address the criticism of drug testing in school stating that drug testing in school had been "deemed effective because some teachers noted a decrease in drug use and an improvement in discipline following school implementation of drug testing." (Yamaguchi, Johnston, and O'Malley, 2003) Yamaguchi, Johnston and O'Malley state that there have been only few studies that have examined the "...effectiveness and utility of drug testing. For example, though students in athletics and extracurricular activities may have the lowest reported drug use rates, the legal cases of Earls in 2002 and Vernonia in 1995 support the legality of schools to target these students." (2003)

The work of McKinney (2004) entitled: 'Study of High Schools with Student Drug-Testing Programs' reports a study of 52 Indiana high schools with student random drug testing-programs (SDT) to compare graduation rates and test scores to rates and scores in those schools without drug testing programs as well as examining the data on drug and alcohol use at two high schools in Columbus, Indiana from 2000 to 2001 during the time when random SDT programs were suspended and one-year following the programs having been reinstated from 2002-2003. Findings in this study include those as follows:

80% (42) high schools with SDT programs in 2002-03 scored higher than the state average on the state-mandated graduation test (grades 10-12);

statistically significant number of high schools (37 or 71%) with SDT programs in 2002-03 had graduation rates higher than the state average;

Number of expulsions and suspensions were due to drugs, alcohol and weapons for SDT high schools showed a 30% reduction in schools with testing programs. (McKinney, 2004)

Other findings in the study conducted in 52 Indiana high schools include the following as stated in the work of McKinney (2004):

Marijuana use - statistically significant decreases in marijuana use in 2003 with a SDT program over 2001 without a SDT program;

Compared to 2001, students felt safer in 2003 when asked 'In past month, how often has a student missed school because he/she felt unsafe on school property? All grades (9,10,11,and 12) stated they "felt much safer" in 2003 as compared to 2001.

Compared to 2001, fewer students approved of marijuana use in 2003 when asked 'How do you feel friends feel (or you) about smoking marijuana occasionally?' All grades (9,10, 11, and 12) stated that fewer were approving and much more were strongly disapproving.

When asked in comparison to 2001 is fewer serious arguments and physical fights occurred in 2003 all grades (9,10,11, and 12) stated that serious arguments and physical fights were down in 2003 as compared to 2001.

There was significantly less use of amphetamines, inhalants, and tranquilizers in 2003 as compared to 2001. (McKinney, 2004)

IV. CRITICAL COMPONENTS of a SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL DRUG-TESTING PROGRAM

The Student Drug-Testing Coalition stats that the critical components to a school drug-testing program that is effective are those as follows: (1) a rationale relating to safety and the need for testing for illicit drugs and alcohol and the welfare of students in bringing about a goal of reduction of student drug use; (2) programs for students that are non-punitive and result in activities identified for suspension that are non-academic related activities; (3) a measure of drug use of students in district (in the form of surveys or studies); (4) no requirement to report medications taken to others than the testing laboratory or the Medical Review Office (MRO) and these are confidential in nature; (5) parental consent forms; (6) minimal intrusion during the process of collection of sample for testing providing students with the maximum privacy possible (no observation); (7) progressive consequences in the event of more than one test result that is positive; (8) actions based on test results are not inclusive of involvement of law enforcement; (9) use of test collection procedures that are well-established including chain of custody for reliable documentation of the specimen; (10) a confirmatory testing process; (11) establish confidentiality procedures that are strict and specific including drug-testing records being kept apart from other school records; (12) information on results of drug tests restricted on the basis of a 'need to know'; (13) Medical Review Office (MRO) use in the process of drug-testing; (14) Options for referrals to treatment; (15) Upon graduation drug-testing records to be destroyed. (Student Drug-Testing Coalition, 2008)

V. SIGNIFICANCE of FINDINGS & IMPLICATIONS for FUTURE

The findings reported in the study conducted among 52 Indiana high schools is significant in that this study demonstrated that drug-testing programs for all high schools students is effective in educating students about the harmful outcomes of drug use and ultimately reduced drug use in Indiana high schools and increased the perception of students of the harm associated with the use of drugs.

SUMMARY & CONCLUSION

The U.S. Supreme Court has clearly indicated that drug-testing of all students and particularly in high schools is a viable option in today's educational system. Due to the findings of the high rate of drug use among high school students and the negative affects of drug use among students including academic impacts, and the violence and fighting that drug use has been noted to be an outcome of… READ MORE

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