Con

As a senior Sion student I understand that my gray pleated skirt and uniform polo never really come off. We are the face of Sion at all times and especially on the weekend. But

when faced with life’s temptations and dilemmas, our representation of the school we attend should not be the only factor in our decision to say yes or no to drugs and alcohol.

Beginning in the 2013-2014, school year Rockhurst High School will conduct a mandatory hair drug test at least once to all of its students. According to the Kansas City Star, this test will detect evidence of illegal drug use and binge drinking. If a student tests positively after the first test no disciplinary action will be taken, but a private meeting will be conducted with a school counselor and the student’s parents. A second positive test could result in disciplinary action.

As a private institution, Rockhurst has the right to test their students in this way, but I find it an extreme invasion of privacy for the school to take this “guilty until proven innocent” approach with its students. It is immediately incriminating the entire student body even though Rockhurst stated that the test is not being implemented because of “extraordinary drug and alcohol abuse.”

It seems like a waste of time and resources for Rockhurst to begin this witch-hunt when many of its students do not have drug and alcohol abuse problems. The $60 fee that will be put in place to fund this testing could benefit so many other school programs other than drug testing.

Every time a student drinks a beer or hits a joint they are making the conscience decision to put their fate into the hands of the law. Legal and parental ramifications are already reasons enough to say no, so why does Rockhurst need to add on to the pile of consequences?

Students with a legal history of drug or alcohol abuse should be drug tested at school, not the majority who says no every weekend. As 14- to 18-year-olds, students should be allowed the ability to make their own decisions whether they are considered right or wrong.

I can only imagine the thick air of mistrust that will hang in the halls of Rockhurst after the first drug and alcohol test is conducted. It will distract from what high school is really about. Education. Let the parents take control of their child’s weekend activities, not the administration who is supposed to be focusing on their academics.

Even though this test will not directly affect my life, I sympathize with these students. Their lives are already controlled enough — high school is about making our own decisions with the principles and ideals that have been drilled into our heads since the first day of freshman orientation. After this drug and alcohol testing is implemented, Rockhurst students will be given the same kind of trust they had in grade school. None.

Pro

Come next fall, each Rockhurst student will lose about 60 hairs. Hairs that will be sent off to be tested for drug use and binge drinking. Rockhurst High School announced this new policy Jan. 3, and the first tests will be conducted in the 2013-2014 school year.

While Rockhurst’s Board of Trustees unanimously voted in favor of the system, many scoff at the idea, angered by an invasion of privacy. But if the students are following the law as they should be, what’s the big deal?

It’s not as if marijuana, PCP, cocaine and opiates are currently legal and Rockhurst is putting in place a new rule to ban them. No – all Rockhurst is doing is reinforcing a long-standing law that forbids dangerous drugs.

So, students should already be abiding by these standards because of potential legal and health consequences. And if they are, the drug test shouldn’t be a concern.

But, the truth is, not all teenagers are perfect. Drugs and alcohol are available, and peer pressure is real. According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey, in 2011 40 percent of high schoolers in the United States used marijuana at least once. Twenty-two percent had five or more drinks of alcohol within a couple of hours, the definition of binge drinking.

Rockhurst High School reported that the testing was not put in place because of any serious problem with drugs and alcohol at the school, but simply to strive for an overall healthy student body.

And, according to junior Matthew Brocato in an interview for Fox 4 News, this policy is now one more way to avoid peer pressure.

“They’re going to completely understand. ‘Hey, do you want to try this?’ ‘No, I go to Rockhurst,’” Brocato said. “There’s nothing they can say. That’s the perfect excuse.”

It’s the perfect excuse because now, students will get caught. No more sneaking under the police’s radar. Violators will test positive, so students must say no if they want to attend Rockhurst High School.

And Rockhurst is even taking a “health and wellness approach.” If a student tests positive a first time, parents will be notified and counseling will begin. But no disciplinary action will occur, and no teachers will be told. The student will have 90 days before being tested again, and it is then that a positive test could result in disciplinary action.

A pretty fair system, compared to what would happen if the police had caught the student.

And it works. Christian Brothers College High School began this same drug and binge drinking hair test in the 2007-2008 school year. In an interview with The Kansas City Star, school president Mike England reported that more than 99 percent of the tests were negative this year.

Clearly, Rockhurst’s intention of an honest, healthy student population can be achieved with this fair, reasonable system. Don’t do drugs or alcohol? You have no worries then. Struggle with peer pressure? Now here’s an excuse. Have a serious addiction? There is help.