'It Is Too Nanny-state To Stomach'

The Proposal To Start Random Testing Is Misguided, Say Observers

Times Editorial, February 23
“The government’s decision to let heads introduce random drug-testing for children aged 14 and over will be a welcome addition to schools’ limited armoury [against drug use]. Not all will wish to make use of what are effectively police powers to take urine samples from pupils and to use dogs to sniff out drugs. But it must be right in principle to let headteachers decide both whether to test and what to do with the results. Random testing should deter some pupils, and stiffen the resolve of others to resist peer pressure ...

“It would, of course, be quite wrong for testing to create a false sense of security. While it can usefully detect a fraction of users, it will inevitably miss some of those who are in real trouble. Whereas marijuana can take weeks to disappear from the body, for example, ecstasy and alcohol disappear within hours. Parents and teachers need to pay careful attention to other signs such as truancy, erratic behaviour and falling grades. The fact is that youngsters who are most at risk of substance abuse are more likely to be playing truant from school.”

Daily Mail Editorial, February 23
“Isn’t this the same Tony Blair who has presided over the ill-considered reclassification of cannabis, a botch that persuaded millions of young people the drug is in effect decriminalised and smoking the odd joint isn’t so bad after all? Wasn’t it his administration that made the expulsion of pupils - even those found dealing in drugs - much more difficult? ...

“Does he seriously expect hard-pressed teachers to oversee a difficult, time-consuming testing regime, when they are already snowed under by Whitehall red tape? How many heads will invite disruption and bad publicity by imposing tests? What happens when pupils refuse to take them, as some certainly will? ... The tragedy is none of this seriously addresses a drugs culture blighting countless young lives.”

Journal Editorial, Newcastle, February 23
“There is a big difference between teenagers coming into contact with drugs - even of trying drugs once - and going on to become a user ... Headteachers have developed their own strategies which, while never likely to remove the menace of drugs altogether, do serve to minimise the threat to the young people in their care ...

“It is the government which has done most to undermine this work by ‘downgrading’ the legal status of cannabis - thus encouraging the liberal myth that it is a harmless high - at a time when it has fallen far enough in price to be within the compass of many children’s pocket money. Random tests are a blunt instrument likely to make it harder for teachers to detect and deal with drug abuse. Criminalisation will deter young people from ‘telling’ on their friends and move any emerging drug culture away from schools, where teachers would have the most chance of spotting it and dealing with it.”

Daily Star Editorial, February 23
“Stopping youngsters smoking joints behind the bike sheds is one thing. But having teachers pounding corridors and ordering on-the-spot urine samples is too nanny-state to stomach.

“No one wants drugs in schools. But surely we should be teaching kids about the dangers of drugs - not forcing them into army-style tests in lessons. This smacks of a classic quick fix to grab a good soundbite, like so many of Labour’s grand ideas.”

Daily Mirror Editorial, February 23
“Headteachers already have the power to perform these tests, yet few, if any, do. That suggests they don’t consider them an effective way of dealing with drug-taking ... The [new] rules, so far revealed, are too muddled. A pupil found to have taken drugs will not be excluded from school but will be helped to cope with his problem. Will there be a difference in treatment between the young person found to have smoked a joint and the one who has used heroin? ...

“The key to dealing with drug use by young people lies in educating all of them, not just those who are found to be users. And it should include the dangers of those other drugs which do so much damage - alcohol and tobacco. The war on drugs needs clear thinking. Testing for them in schools is only a small part of understanding how to deal with them.”

Herald Editorial, Scotland, February 23
“Rushing headlong into a regime of random pupil-testing without proper consideration and consultation would not only be unpopular; it would also fly in the face of the reality of drug education and reporting in many schools. At their best, school drug policies are sufficiently flexible and sensitive to deal with the needs and problems of individual children. The child who is curious about drugs must be treated differently from the child who has gone further. In the worst cases, schools call in the police to deal with incidents that are potentially criminal.

“In addition, the scale of the problem is not known. Why jeopardise the good work being done to keep children onside on drugs, and help them if they stray? ... School is the one area outside the home where children should feel secure, not put under unnecessary stress by a policy that, on current evidence, has no justification.”