Should Students Be Required to Take Drug Tests?
REASONS WHY STUDENTS SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO TAKE DRUG TEST.
Drug abuse is a relevant problem nowadays in many countries. Many people take different types of drugs to alter their mood and change their behavior. Some people take drugs to reduce pain and try something new. Substance abuse is crime. In the majority of countries drugs are illegal. One cannot go and purchase drugs in a store. In this essay, I will discuss why students must take drug tests in their various schools or institution.
To begin with, many people think that drug testing in schools should be prohibited because this action violates children’s rights. Drugs are prohibited because they influence our organism inadequately. Many people commit crimes under the influence of drugs. Others just enjoy themselves but waste too much money on these harmful substances. Consequently, drugs influence our health and financial condition. I feel sad to say but many children become victims of drug abuse at school. They want to seem cooler and mature when they smoke marijuana or use methamphetamine. Children are vulnerable to such things. It is easy to persuade a child to try drugs. If he enjoys them, he can become a returning customer. Therefore, dealers make money on students and cause harm to the younger generation. No wonder, there have been many attempts to stop the spread of drugs in schools. Drug testing is a very simple mechanism for examining the human body because there are multiple options of detecting it by supplying urine, hair or simply a breath. These little samples detect many common drugs like methamphetamines, cocaine, and heroin. Students are tested on drugs from time to time to make sure the educational institution is healthy.
Secondly, young students do not have enough money on drugs. Thus, they have to steal it somewhere. As a result, drug abuse is closely connected with robberies and assaults. It is vital to prevent such antisocial behavior as soon as possible. It is useful to conduct drug testing from time to time to detect the students who are under the influence of drugs. They will probably name the people who sold them drugs. Therefore, drug testing can help the police catch dealers and more solid criminals. The purpose of drug testing students is not so much to catch offenders but to prevent them for doing it in the first place. Surely, there will be justice taken but it is displaying the serious consequences against the offenders. There is a clear and present problem with drug use among teenagers in many countries. Current measures to tackle drugs at the source are done by imprisoning dealers and breaking the supply chain but these are not succeeding. It is important to protect teenagers at an impressionable age and at the time when their attitude to education greatly affects their entire lives. Some sacrifice of human rights is necessary to tackle the drug problem.
Furthermore, we should test students in the proper way. It is possible that a child decides to try drugs for the first time and he is caught at once. In this case, teachers and parents should be very careful. It is considerable to explain the negative impact of drugs on the human health to the caught child. They shouldn’t exclude him from classes. The student’s nature is rebellious and he will do the opposite on purpose. Many students take drugs because they are forced by their peers. Others decide to take drugs because they have personal problems. Therefore, it is reasonable to test students on drug abuse in order to learn about their unfavorable social position. Due to drug testing social services learn about dysfunctional families and difficult children.
Again, schools that check their students on drugs demonstrate their concern about the healthy way of life. When students see that administration and teachers care about this problem, they realize that it is important to live in a drug free environment. This concern makes students believe that healthy lifestyle is more important than short-term euphoria caused by drugs. More children will refuse to take drugs and promote this idea among their classmates. Therefore, more students will reach their goal and build a successful career in future. Drug testing has many positive reactions on sending a powerful message and reducing the percentage of youth drug. I strongly believe that drug testing in schools should be enforced simply because it has proven to be an effective mechanism for detecting drugs.
Lastly, we have to realize that safety and health are much more important than privacy. The future benefits need to be taken into account too. Given that random tests have the deterrent effect, they prevent the development of serious addictions (such as when people move on from marijuana to heroin). An interesting statistic in the United States shows how easily drugs are distributed throughout a student body; specifically in a certain grade. As of 2010, about 30% of 10th-graders used marijuana in the past year. More than two-thirds of 10th graders said they could easily gain access to that drug. And enforcing the random drug testing system into public schools across the United States sends the right message about drugs. Using drugs, especially at a young age, extremely harms your health and is completely wrong. Children have to realize that it is never OK to do drug and that they will never get away with it.
In conclusion, drug testing in schools is the best solution of the problem of drug abuse among young people. It is smart to detect and prevent this problem when students are very young than to bring up a grownup person. Although this procedure is unpleasant and even shameful, it will save many young lives.
By FESTUS COBENA AINOO