Guest Opinion Essay

Drug Test Nonsense

Fran Rothstein
Rothstein Consulting
Chevy Chase, Md.

Not only do extracurricular activities inhibit substance abuse and other high-risk behaviors, as Jane Quinn correctly claims in her October column decrying the wrong-headed policy that allows random drug tests as a condition of extracurricular participation.

Extracurricular participation also contributes to positive attitudes toward school, according to multiple research studies. It’s not such a leap to assume that students who feel good about school are more likely to show up on a daily basis, participate in class, and complete their homework – all necessary prerequisites for the rigorous academic outcomes we expect them to achieve.
What possible reason is there – other than the loud voices and deep pockets of the drug-test lobby – to set up barriers to extracurricular activities, when those activities promote the very conditions necessary for academic success?

Feedback
Youth Today welcomes comments by mail or e-mail. All letters must include the author’s name, job description or other connection to the youth work field, and phone number or e-mail address. Please send to: Letters to Editor, Youth Today, 1200 17th St. NW, 4th Fl., Washington, DC 20036 or info@youthtoday.org.

Comments
To Top
Skip to content