I wrote a story last week about Red Oak High School's police department confiscating student ID cards and then running them through drug testing machines.

I interviewed the chief, two students and a lawyer - the response has been mixed.

On one side, you (obviously) have the school district and police and some parents saying that any way to combat drugs is good - even if that means "violating" or "compromising" someone's rights.

They don't see it as violating the rights; they see it as "making students safe."

Anyway, students are outraged by it; true, by law, the police cannot prosecute the positive-tested ID cards - the police/district can, according to them, "help" the students with their potential drug problem.

But here's the question:

Was this a violation of students' rights?

The ACLU thinks so; strict Constitutionalists think so.

I'd love to get feedback on this - and if you guys (and girls) aren't afraid to really speak your mind, I'd love to see letters to the editor from YouthNOISE

Either in support, or opposition to, the drug testing methods.


Anyway, have at it.

Letters to the Editor:
Editor@elliscountypress.com

We do debates on stuff like this. Personally, I think that both sides have good points.

Teachers and administrators have reason to fear that which they know will harm the student.

Students have the right to privacy.

Dumars, could you please send what you just said to Editor@elliscountypress.com?

That's precisely what the students at ROHS are trying to get across.

It'd be nice if there was "outside" commentary.

It is a violation of their rights. Why because people fear what they dont understand. If everyone accross the board would be tested then I bet many adults would complain and say that it is a violation of their rights as well. It really boils down to a power issue and that is that parents feel that they are loosing control of todays youths so they feel that if they can make them feel like they are below the adults then all problems will be solved. Which as most of us know is a lie.

Aloner, now go and ask that to the parents/administrators...

See, this is the problem.

Nobody cares that their kids are being treated like criminals!



Editor@elliscountypress.com

Yes, I do think it was a violation of the rights of the student body.



If they are allowed to take ID cards away and test them, what is preventing them from taking other things away from students, for supposed "testing" purposes?

Just in case you guys don't know, I'm a newspaper reporter for The Ellis County Press, an independent paper based 20 miles south of Dallas.

http://www.elliscountypress.com



Um, what I meant to say was that by law, police cannot prosecute students for having ID cards that turned up positive - of course they can't prosecute the cards ha.


But anyway...