Teens To Be Tested At School For Weekend Drinking

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White Rain

White Rain

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I'm not to sure how I feel about this yet. On one hand I think "is this really something that the school needs to be involved in" but then on the other hand I think of the perfume and gum I used liberally as a teen to hide the smell of cigarettes and alcohol, and my parents were none the wiser. I'm still on the fence about this one.


http://www.wsbtv.com/education/10881026/detail.html


PEQUANNOCK, N.J. -- Teens who drink alcohol could be caught three days later under a high school's new testing policy for students.


The test, which will be given randomly to students at Pequannock Township High School, can detect whether alcohol was consumed up to 80 hours earlier.


Pequannock Superintendent Larrie Reynolds said the policy approved last week should be a deterrent to students who feel peer pressure to drink.


Under the program, students who test positive will not be kicked off teams or barred from extracurricular activities, Reynolds said. Instead, they will receive counseling - and their parents will be notified.

Much more at link...
 
Good.

I'm sick of alcohol not being addressed as the dangerous drug it is. test. do it! :furious:
 
I too believe that alcohol is a dangerous drug, but this smacks of Big Brother and I can't stand it. It's ludicrous and I wouldn't want my kids attending a school that did this.

It'll probably just lead to an increase in pot smoking, until they start to then randomly administer drug tests.
 
southcitymom--I completely agree--This is definitely Big Brother--Let kids be kids and leave them alone--Show them a movie or something,about the dangers of drunk driving--that's all a school needs to do
 
Peter Hamilton said:
southcitymom--I completely agree--This is definitely Big Brother--Let kids be kids and leave them alone--Show them a movie or something,about the dangers of drunk driving--that's all a school needs to do
Click to expand...

I agree: Imagine the humiliation of being ordered to pee in a cup. Students should be taught responsible freedom and respect, not how to live life in a concentration camp. This is between the students and their parents.
 
Gotta agree with the previous posters.... I think this is wrong!!


I heard on one news station that these tests are not that reliable and they could point an accusing finger at an innocent kid.


Bottom line on this, it's mom and dad's job to lay down the rules for drinking, bust them if necessary and dole out punishment. The school system has no business in this.


There will be lawsuits within the first 6 months they start it!!
 
The test they are using is notorious for false positives! The Wall Street Journal did an expose type article on it last summer.

The "etg" test has even been disavowed by the guy who invented it!

Everything and anything produces a positive - like using the instant hand sanitizers that are so popular, eating certain (many) foods.

Whoever made the decision to use this test did NOT do their homework, that's for sure. There are many websites devoted to the subject, plus I know of at least one class action lawsuit that has not yet reached the courts.

"A widely-used urine test, utilized by drug-testing laboratories to detect alcohol consumption, is too inaccurate to be reliable, according to an advisory issued by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The test is so sensitive it cannot distinguish between actual alcohol consumption and exposure to small amounts of alcohol found in many household and personal hygiene products."

http://alcoholism.about.com/od/work/a/etg.htm
 
AlwaysShocked said:
The "etg" test has even been disavowed by the guy who invented it!
Everything and anything produces a positive - like using the instant hand sanitizers that are so popular, eating certain (many) foods.QUOTE]

Ya know, the sad thing about our school is that they no longer have soap in the restrooms--just the hand sanitizer stuff. Basically, they'd be testing the kids to find out who uses the hand sanitizer!
Click to expand...
 
I am on a razor thin fence about this. I want to get off; but, I can't decide which way to go yet.

I fully agree that we need to look at alcohol for the dangerous that it is. About 16, 000 people die every year in our country from alcohol related accidents. According to Fox News minutes ago there are more teens who die in alcohol related accidents each YEAR than all of our soldiers killed in the Iraq war. Movies and classes have been around for years, and the problem is still here. Our children and adults are still dying. I lost a close friend to a drunk driver years ago. he was only 18, and he was a wonderful person. I am tired of people turning a desensitized eye away from this pandemic life-taking problem. Something must be done.

But, randomly testing students at school sounds like, "big brother" to me, too. It concerns me that the more of, "big brother" we allow into our society, the more he will keep a watchful eye and bring in the reigns.

And, while testing students may result in a decrease in students drinking, it doesn't address the issue of attitudinal change. Teens that drink, drive and party have a certain, "attitude" that in itself perpetuates drinking and can lead to additional self destructive or destructive behaviours. One thing I am for though is for parents to teach children from the very day they can comprehend. We need to set good examples, and educate about the dangers and destructiveness of alcohol and other drugs in a manner that children and teens can understand and respect. Without this, I have doubts that any plan of random school testing will ultimately prove successful in overcoming this major problem.

Lion
 
I think it's a great idea too.


It's about time the government gets on the alcohol corporations butts like they have cigarette makers.

Drunks kill people every day. Many more than die from cigarettes.

But, the senators and representatives like to have those martini lunches, so they won't do a THING about it!!!!
 
We are slowly losing our civil rights here in USA.

This amounts to nothing more than an illegal search.........this type of testing forces the innocent to submit to a test to prove they are innocent and that is just flat out wrong.

PLUS, it is absolutely none of the school district's concern whether students drink on weekends. Students are under parental control and supervision on weekends, not the school districts. If a student is suspected of drinking on campus, that is one thing, but this is a whole other animal!

This needs to be taken to court pronto. If we, as citizens, allow this type of intrustion into our civil rights, we will lose them one by one. We will change the course of this nation forever, for our children and their children.
 
Since when did parents sign a waiver to let schools and government be the parents rather than the ones that birthed them?

Why don't they concentrate on teaching kids things like..oh I don't know...Geography? Since half the kids tested in one test couldn't even find Iraq on a map?

I'm not saying drinking is cool. I'm not saying that parents shouldn't be parents and stop the drinking...I'm saying it's not the schools place, nor governments place, to do our job for us. If you need that much outside influence to raise your kids maybe YOU (general you of course) need to get some parenting classes, bone up on signs of underage drinking, talk to your kids, get them in treatment or something.

The ramifications of testing will trickle down and I'm not happy with it. Stop handing over our liberties, or don't complain when you don't have any at all.

Have I mentioned lately how glad I am we home school and I don't have to deal with this stuff? Except for when it starts horning in my rights to do so of course. And it will, I promise.
 
I think this is an awful idea..
The school's need to focus on teaching children to read.... Leave the moral lessons at home.

A urine test?? Hell no. There would be noway in hell my teenager would be tested. They had better have a court order.
There have to be parents in that school district that are opposed to this.
 
Oh- this IS a very tough one. I would probably be upset if my son were tested, but I drank like a fish when I was in High School and can't help but wonder if these tests would've scared me strait. Obviously the school feels that these kids aren't getting the lessons at home about how dangerous alcohol can be. I agree that it is a very fine line, but someone has to look out for these kids. My mother was an alcoholic and it took me watching her die at the young age of 44 to make drinking down right disgusting to me!
 
Just another thing that effectively puts more responsibility on the school, rather than where it should be - on the parents. I teach at-risk teens and dealing with their learning problems and behavior at school is enough, thank you very much. Parents already throw their kids' problems in the school's lap. I deal with it every day.

Our administrator contacted social services last week because our staff heard that one of our 15 year old students "felt up" a 13-year old at a party over the weekend. HUH? My ex, a former prosecutor laughed his head off and said, "Way to waste more tax payer money filing a charge that will go nowhere and is not the school's business."

What is it with people looking to government institutions to oversee everything in our lives? People should be feeling: "I am confident of myself! Let me handle my own life and family!"

My kids would be out of this school. I'll test my own kids if I think it's necessary. Next they'll be overseeing how the parents deal with a positive test, requiring that they do this and that. This interferes with the sanctity of the family. And yes, there are rotten families who mess it all up but who says they don't have the right to raise their kids they way they want? The law will get involved soon enough if a kid screws up enough, believe me.

I'm beginning to seriously worry about the state of of our civil rights in this country. I really wonder what has happened that people don't recognize the negative ramifications of this kind of trend. Maybe it's because no one learns their U.S. History and Civics anymore. Schools are too busy with this kind of b.s. As a public school teacher, I could write a book on how much time is spent on the wrong things.

What problem has government ever made better by this kind of intrusion?

Eve
 
eve said:
Just another thing that effectively puts more responsibility on the school, rather than where it should be - on the parents. I teach at-risk teens and dealing with their learning problems and behavior at school is enough, thank you very much. Parents already throw their kids' problems in the school's lap. I deal with it every day.

Our administrator contacted social services last week because our staff heard that one of our 15 year old students "felt up" a 13-year old at a party over the weekend. HUH? My ex, a former prosecutor laughed his head off and said, "Way to waste more tax payer money filing a charge that will go nowhere and is not the school's business."

What is it with people looking to government institutions to oversee everything in our lives? People should be feeling: "I am confident of myself! Let me handle my own life and family!"

My kids would be out of this school. I'll test my own kids if I think it's necessary. Next they'll be overseeing how the parents deal with a positive test, requiring that they do this and that. This interferes with the sanctity of the family. And yes, there are rotten families who mess it all up but who says they don't have the right to raise their kids they way they want? The law will get involved soon enough if a kid screws up enough, believe me.

I'm beginning to seriously worry about the state of of our civil rights in this country. I really wonder what has happened that people don't recognize the negative ramifications of this kind of trend. Maybe it's because no one learns their U.S. History and Civics anymore. Schools are too busy with this kind of b.s. As a public school teacher, I could write a book on how much time is spent on the wrong things.

What problem has government ever made better by this kind of intrusion?

Eve
Click to expand...
Outstanding post. I particularly like the rhetoric at the end. Answer = NOT A SINGLE ONE!
 
I am responsible for raising my daughter. The school is responsible for providing her the educational opportunities she was promised by them. I will give them my tax dollars and my volunteer hours, but I do not give them permission to tell her when she can and cannot pee, where and to then take her pee and do anything with it. The schools are not professional lab technitions and accidents and dishonest test results will happen.
 
The school should definately NOT be testing the kids.
What happens on the weekends is up to the parents
to monitor. Teenagers do lots of stupid things that shouldn't
be a part of their school record. If the student is obeying the rules
while on school property and during school hours, then there should
be no problem. Randomly testing students is against their rights of
privacy and amounts to illegal search in my opinion.
 
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