Drug Testing Teens
Apparently we’ve done a pretty good job of preaching to teens about the dangers of drinking and driving. Studies show that drunk driving cases involving teenagers has steadily decreased in the last several years. However, teens are still drinking.
Besides the drunk driving dangers there are many other dangers associated with drinking. Your inhibitions are lowered. After many drinks you suddenly have the courage to ask the cute football player out or to tell the class bully what you really think of him. Teens may do something under the influence of alcohol that they wouldn’t have dreamed of doing while sober. They may experiment with sex or drugs. They may puff away on a cigarette. They may leave the party with somebody they wouldn’t think of trusting normally. They may pass out. They may end up with alcohol poisoning. While it’s fantastic that teens aren’t getting behind the wheel of a car after drinking, they also need to understand the other risks involved with alcohol.
Lynda Steverman, whose son disappeared after a keg party and was later found dead in a swamp, created “Choices,” a documentary warn teenagers of the potentially life changing effect of alcohol. She says, “This is about accepting responsibility for your actions and watching out for your friends and yourself.”
Some parents are resorting to more than just more education. They are forcing their kids to take a breathalyzer test when they come home from school events or friends houses.
My husband and I have some friends who regularly give their son a drug test. You can now purchase simple drug tests at convenience stores or local grocery stores. And they are fairly inexpensive. You can stop at Wal-Mart to pick up toothbrushes, socks, and a drug test.
However, I wouldn’t suggest regularly subjecting your teen to a breathalyzer or drug test unless you have reason to. Our friends test their son because he has a problem with drugs and has been in rehab several times. The woman in the article tested her daughter because she had a strong suspicion her daughter was lying to her about her drinking.
There is a fine line between trusting your teens to make their own decisions (and mistakes) and protecting them. Be on the lookout for signs that your teen may be using drugs and alcohol. If you suspect a problem you may need to resort to testing to help them control the problem before it gets out of hand.
We have found that you have to be very careful with teen drug testing and should not be thought of as the panacea for controlling teen drug use. The truth is most teens that have a drug abuse problem know how to get around drug testing. Drug testing does not test for every type of drug that can be abused. Over the counter drugs do not show up in drug testing and can be more abusive. If teens “need” to get high and are being tested for one type of drug they will find other methods which may end up to be worse.
Word to the wise be careful in how you use drug testing.
Schools teach life skills, sometimes if only by accident. One of the skills kids need to learn is that life requires you to piss in a cup. Today, unless you work for yourself, you’re probably going to have to take a drug test.
Kids are either going to learn not to take drugs or they are going to learn how not to get caught doing drugs. Either way, drug testing in high school teaches a skill.
=-Isis-=
I think teens today know that drug testing some what is a why of life now. I hope they think that anyway. By the way I love your site and read it often.
Isis, be honest or learn to cheat well, huh? I more or less agree with you.
A friend of the family is a professor at an Ivy League university. He tells his advanced nano nuclear physics big brain sub-atomic particle science students they are more than welcome to cheat in his class. If they can cheat in class and get away with it, they can probably cheat in life and get away with it.
The catch: they have to be able to get away with cheating.
If he catches any of them cheating, he will make it his life’s mission to get them expelled from school and branded a pariah. At his level and inside this very specific area of science, everyone knows everyone else. Getting caught cheating could easily mean throwing away 12 years of college education and pursuing another line of work.
Actions have consequences. If you goal is to kill the king, you better succeed on the first attempt.
Cheers,
Matt