As The Phillipian reported two weeks ago, faculty and administrators at Phillips Exeter Academy have begun discussing the possibility of introducing drug and alcohol tests for students. Many prep schools have become concerned that drug use among students is on the rise. Exeter stated that with such a policy, only students that faculty suspected of using drugs would be required to take a test. However, the issue of a student’s right to privacy immediately becomes a major issue when mandatory drug testing is being discussed. While drug testing has its merits, the administration at Exeter must ensure that the privacy of students is never invaded without proper reason, something that will be extremely difficult to determine. There are a variety of concerns that must be addressed when a drug proposal of the magnitude that Exeter wants is being considered. First and foremost is the right of every student to privacy. In the United States, every citizen is given the right to privacy, one of the most fundamental civil liberties that can be accorded to a person since it was first made a law with Fourth Amendment to the Constitution in the Bill of Rights. The enforcement of this drug policy, if passed, must be regulated carefully. It is completely inappropriate to pursue a policy of indiscriminate urine testing, as the process is both unfair and unnecessary. Regular students who are not even suspected of using drugs should not be forced to “prove” their innocence through such a demeaning procedure that violates the right of privacy that all people are accorded. Even worse, although technology has increased tremendously, drug tests still have a significant chance of yielding a false positive, which would do nothing more than to incriminate a completely innocent student. Administrators at Exeter have stated that they hope that such a proposal, if instituted, would serve as a powerful deterrent against the use of drugs among students at Exeter. However, there are much better ways of trying to ensure that students do not use drugs. In agreement with the editorial board of The Phillipian, Andover’s current drug policy program should be applauded. With no mandatory drug or alcohol testing, Andover has proved that it respects the privacy of students. More importantly, Andover gives students the chance to see why drugs are so bad, rather than simply making decisions for Andover students. FCD (Freedom from Chemical Dependency) Week, although considered by many Andover students to be unnecessary, is in fact an excellent program, allowing students to hear from former drug addicts about why drugs are so bad. The school’s sanctuary policy, which allows students who are in physical danger from illicit drugs to go to Isham for treatment without disciplinary consequences, should also be commended. The whole point of enforcing drug rules is to ensure that students do not hurt themselves or others through the use of drugs or alcohol. If the rules make students afraid to come forward with the fact that they have an addiction, then the rules are not serving their primary purpose. Recent evidence has also shown that random drug testing fails to drive down the level of drug use among students, as well as adults in the workplace. The National Institute on Drug Abuse funded the largest study ever done on this issue in 2003, comparing approximately 76,000 students in schools that either had or did not have random drug testing. In the end, the institute found that there was no substantial difference in illegal drug use between students at schools with or without random drug testing. There are also a great deal of worries about the amount of money that random drug testing could cost, especially in relation to the alternatives methods of random drug testing, like the drug prevention programs that PA and other schools have in place. In the end, random drug testing would probably not be the best solution to trying to decrease drug use at Exeter, or at any other school across the country. The purpose is just, however, and perhaps all of the administrations of the prep schools should meet together to discuss what is perceived to be a growing problem. By working together, a better solution could be developed that respects the privacy of students, does not harm the student-faculty relationship, and serves to effectively deter drug use so that no student is harmed.
