Posted on 01/31/2013 10:16:50 AM PST by Responsibility2nd
One Kansas City high school is taking the war on drugs to the next level. Beginning this fall, Rockhurst High School will require students to submit their hair for random drug tests, reports KSHB. In a somewhat bizarre-sounding process, a staff member who happens to be a barber will cut about 60 strands from randomly selected students' heads or bodies. (KSHB helpfully clarifies that hair in private areas will not be touched.) The Jesuit institution will then test for everything from cocaine and PCP to pot and signs of binge drinking; the test is said to be able to identify consumption in the last 90 days.
Positive tests will result in the student's guidance counselor bringing in the parents and student for a discussion, to "get him help if necessary," says Rockhurst's principal. The school administration will not be informed of positive tests nor will universities find out. "Nothing prohibits it," the legal director for the ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri tells CBS News. "But it is a colossal waste of money."
yup, test the entire school staff and all the administrators, the janitors, lunch ladies, bus drivers, test them all first. let’s make sure we can trust those that will be responsible for testing the kids they oversee, first.
Maybe this isn’t such a bad idea, IF they make sure to cut all the hair short.
Because it’s widely known that long (hippie) hair is strongly correlated with drug use !
At least in males.
Drugs in affluent private schools are rampant Christian school or not. The rationale is that if we can find out if individuals have drug issues early then intervention and treatment will keep them from becoming much larger issues in the future. A former student died of a heroin overdose in college and it was apparently well known to the students that he took some serious drugs. We are trying to prevent that from happening again with this program. It is not meant to “catch” kids and punish them. It’s meant to help them and get them into treatment programs. Studies show that if a kid does not try drugs prior to age 18 then the chance of them ever trying them are significantly less. The testing also provides kids an excuse for not partaking when they are around kids from other schools. That built in excuse has worked numerous times. The school is a 24/7/365 school which means any and all activity outside the school is considered a reflection on the student and the school.
Furthermore, it is a private school. If you don’t like the policy then you are free to go elsewhere.
I know Rockhurst is private. My grandson is a senior at that school.
You need to reflect a little further on the import of my remark.
5.56mm
Thank you.
I must be naive. I just never would have expected a Christian school would have to be so pro-active in the fight against drugs.
Funny thing though pot takes 70 to 90 days to flush out and is actually more beneficial than harmful in many ways as the culture is slowing learning.
My question to you though:
I’d heard pot can only be detected with a urine sample, not blood nor hair follicles - both of which are slower and extremely expensive. Hair follicle tests approx $1000.00 iirc.
Sadly I wouldn’t have expected it as well. But as you probably know when parents try to put their children in Christian environments it works with a lot of kids but not on all. Couple that with kids that have a lot of money and, sometimes, little parental supervision and you know what can happen... The vast majority of kids will never have an issue but there will be some who do.
I will say that if my kids were in public school, no way would I want this program to be in place as I am fearful of what the government would do with the info. That’s the beauty of private school. We can do just about whatever we want :-)
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This ping list is for the “other” articles of interest to homeschoolers about education and public school. This can occasionally be a fairly high volume list. Articles pinged to the Another Reason to Homeschool List will be given the keyword of ARTH. (If I remember. If I forget, please feel free to add it yourself)
The main Homeschool Ping List handles the homeschool-specific articles. I hold both the Homeschool Ping List and the Another Reason to Homeschool Ping list. Please freepmail me to let me know if you would like to be added to or removed from either list, or both.
When I taught in a public high school I was tested in a random drug test. Agreeing to such was part of my contract.
Pray tell - the “import” of your remark.
Interesting. Were you in a union state? Can’t imagine they would allow drug testing. Did they test the kids?
Of course, they have probable cause and a warrant for each student, right? Right? KC parents need to unite and let these people have it. The USSC has already ruled that rights do not end when a student walks through the school house doors.
This is a private school, not a public school. It is most likely parents knew of and agreed to this policy prior to enrolling their children.
You've not yet "reflected" on the import?
“Much more effective sample, no?”
Not really, since most drugs are out of your urine in a few days or, at most a few weeks. They can detect traces in hair samples for much longer, if you have long enough hair of course. I’m guessing the “skinhead” look will become all the rage with the stoners at this school.
I know many homeschool families that weren’t comfortable continuing to school their kids through high school that sent their sons on to Rockhurst. This surprises me! It is a boys only school. We talked about it before deciding to continue at home. It’s a decent school.
Yes, there was a union, but I was not forced to join. No, they did not test the kids, but there were drug-sniffing dogs brought in once in a while. And there was a fair amount of drug activity going on apparently.
Hair samples give a long term view.
The company I retired from used this as a part of the pre-employment physical.
Not surprisingly a good % of fresh college grads didn’t make the grade.
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