Drugs and Athletes

MacKenzie Rush, Staff Writter

Parkway Central , drug test , and Athletes. To answer the major question , no PCH does not drug test athletes but it has been drawn to many student’s attention that students at our school are concerned on why Parkway doesn’t .

 

When a  few of Parkway Central’s students were asked about drug testing  they said some interesting things that made valid points. Senior Jayden Littlejohn is a varsity football player. He thinks that drug testing would probably change the participation rates.“It would be effective but half the people playing sports but probably wouldn’t be playing sports,” Littlejohn said. When asked If Parkway central decided to drug test would it be effective, Junior, Nakira Gage is a Varsity Track Runner. She believes that drug testing athletes will affect students decision of participating in sports because it would be an act of mistrust between the school, students, and coaches. “(..) we’re going to lose athletes,” Gage said. Senior, Mello Ball plays Varsity basketball at PCH believes drug test wouldn’t be very effective. “Not really because it’d be bad turn out for a lot of people,” Mello said. Suggesting the simple fact that many people would no longer be able to play sports for our school.

 

“The primary purpose of drug testing is not to punish students who use illicit drugs but to prevent future illicit drug use and to help students already using become drug-free. If a student tests positive for drugs, schools can respond to the individual situation. If a student tests positive for drug use but has not yet progressed to addiction, the school can require counseling and follow-up testing. For students diagnosed with addiction, parents and a school administrator can refer them to effective drug treatment programs to begin the recovery process,” www.drugabuse.gov said. www.drugabuse.gov also said, “Teens’ brains and bodies are still developing, and this makes them especially vulnerable to the harmful effects of drug use. Most teens do not use illicit drugs, but for those who do, it can lead to a wide range of adverse effects on their behavior and health.” www.drugabuse.gov shows reason we should but www.aclu.org has logical reasons of why we should not, “This policy violates students’ rights to be free from unreasonable search and seizure, as outlined by the Fourth Amendment. Forcing a student who is not suspected of wrongdoing to provide a urine sample, often in the presence of a school official, is an embarrassing and unwarranted invasion of privacy.” www.aclu.org continues on, “This policy, when used to screen particular groups, such as students participating in extracurricular activities, may actually increase drug use. Students actively participating in extracurricular activities are less likely to do drugs because they simply do not have as much free time on their hands. A policy that randomly drug tests students involved in extracurricular activities may deter other students from joining these activities and thus give these students more free time in which they might turn to drugs.”