In her article “Breathalyze This” that appeared in The Phillipian last week, Peyton Morss ’10 condemned abuse of alcohol and supported the school’s new breathalyzer policy, first implemented last year. Moreover, she encouraged the school to institute a random drug and alcohol-testing program. While I am not here to debate the negative effects of alcohol, I urge us to reconsider these broad condemnations, especially at a school such as Andover. Many high school students have used alcohol. According to PA’s 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 31 percent of Andover students reported using alcohol in the previous month, compared to 45 percent of students nationally. Under the current drug and alcohol-testing policy, students can be tested for “behavior, presentation or circumstance [that] is indicative of recent alcohol consumption or drug use or both” if the student denies substance use. This represents a lack of trust in the students by the administration. This is especially troubling at a school employing a second chance policy and whose discipline system relies on honesty. Dishonesty is one of our most serious rule violations and is reciprocated by harsh punishment. If the administration does not trust the student body, how can we be expected to respond with trust and honesty? These are only the beginnings of the problems with the program. Phillips Academy, as a private institution, can test us whenever it feels necessary and essentially abridge our rights. However, this doesn’t mean they should. In fact, if this school wants to maintain its prestigious reputation, I think it has a responsibility to ensure that it doesn’t so egregiously invade our privacy. Establishing a random testing policy like the one Morss called for would do just this. Regardless of their stance on teen drinking, I’m sure many students would be offended by this invasion of privacy. Drinking alcohol or taking a few hits of marijuana isn’t the worst thing in the world either. Many adolescents try these drugs during their teen years, and it seems to be a natural part of development and maturation. Most do not allow these things to become habits or even dangerous. Even if you haven’t ever tried any of these things by the time you enter college, I think it would be naïve to expect such abstinence to continue there. I live in a small college town in southern Indiana that is mostly lower and middle-class families, along with some college students. As you can imagine, this is a hot spot for teen drug and alcohol use. The first time I heard of a friend abusing a drug was seventh grade, but about 80 percent of my good friends had used some illicit substance by tenth grade. And probably a third of them were doing so on a somewhat regular basis. Though this is not an accurate sampling of adolescents (the real number is probably significantly lower), it does attest to the affluence of teen drug use. I am by no means condoning these actions, but they are simply a part of growing up. Despite all this substance use, I know very few people who have ever had serious problems with drugs, whether that problem is addiction, legal problems or health related. In fact, most are bright young adults who will be enrolling in colleges next year. And honestly, if I had to, I would bet my money on their success through college and life before I would on someone who had vehemently avoided all these things. Why? Most young people who use drugs show their maturity in not succumbing to the aforementioned negative effects of drugs. The only long-term effects are that the users are now more experienced individuals. When drugs are used in moderation, I sincerely believe that resulting problems are minimal. Though binge drinking an drunk driving are problems amongst America’s youth that must be addressed, on the whole, the consequences of these drugs are negligible. I suggest lowering punishments for drug and alcohol use to Warning instead of Probation and eliminating any possibility of drug or alcohol testing. This way, I think students who are suspected of rule breaking will be more likely to admit their wrongdoings and accept the consequences. Overly authoritative punishments from the Academy do not serve its purpose: to educate its students and instill in them the morals that will make them leaders of the next generation. After all, our parents trusted us enough to send us away to live on our own at such a young age. Learning from our decisions is an important part of growing up and learning to live in the real world. Jesse Bielasiak is a three-year Upper from Bloomington, Indiana. He is a Features Associate for The Phillipian. jbielasiak@andover.edu
