Random Drug Testing for 6th Graders
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Children as young as 11 face random drug testing in Belvidere, New Jersey, and the news has people talking across the country. The Board of Education approved the plan for Oxford Street School on Wednesday, and apparently many parents support the idea, even though no drug or alcohol abuse has ever been reported there. The program is voluntary - both parents and children must sign up. If a child tests positive for drugs, he or she will get counseling. School officials promise no suspensions and no police reports. Principal Sandra Szabocsik thinks it will be a deterrent, telling WCBS-TV, "We're hoping that the students, if they're at a party or someone's house or just hanging out somewhere, that they'll say 'I don't want to get involved in drinking or using any drug because tomorrow could be a drug testing day,”
Random drug testing in schools is nothing new.