Drug use among teens has become more common over the years and continues to worry teachers and parents. These concerns have grown into drug checks in the school as a part of protocol.
Drug checks can range from a quick search through a students backpack to canine investigations and are intended to keep the student environment safe.
The debate on how these are done and the overall topic is still heavily debated in our everyday world. Some view them as a necessary tool to maintain a safe environment, while others see it as an invasion and unnecessary.
“Honestly, I’m anxious whenever I step into the restroom because if another student is doing drugs and they get caught, I can get in trouble just for being around them, even if I don’t know what they were doing. Every time I step into the restroom, I have to cross my fingers that it won’t get me sent to Annex,” Savannah Echols, a junior at Cain, said.
Administrators, like Nicholas Draper, practice these measures across many campuses and heavily emphasize that they aren’t designed to place any assumed criminal intent but instead, to reassure students through discouragement of drugs. However, even though the students know this isn’t the intention, some still feel like it’s a violation and stress inducing. Both students and teachers are divided by this choice of classroom safety and teacher-student relationships.
“From an admin perspective I believe that student and campus safety is our number one priority,” Draper said.
Experts say that while drug checks can help deter drug usage and behavior, it can also make a disconnection or cause stress to peers around them. However, drug checks aren’t the only thing used to help prevent drug usage and many opportunities like mental health support, communication with someone on staff, and prevention programs are available to people struggling with addiction.
“ I think mental health also plays a big part in why students even do drugs. But overall I think drug checks do enforce school safety because if someone is doing drugs, we can check it easily and help them,” Cade Nguyen, a senior at Cain, said.
Although drug checks are heavily debated, they are still a current event happening in schools world wide. True safety comes from communication, trust, and loyalty, and through policies and rules in school, the most effective path is student safety and protection. A balanced approach between maintaining student safety and student trust will ensure campus safety, growth, and connection.
