It has recently been questioned as to whether or not high schools should conduct scheduled alcohol testing on spontaneously-selected students. Drug testing is already a common practice among many educational facilities and is the cause for multiple arrests each year. Often, however, getting caught can in turn get the adolescent help in order for them to overcome any addiction that they could be struggling with.
In my opinion, alcohol is a much more commonly-used and an openly-available substance that many high school students become involved with. Drugs don’t seem to be as big of an issue as alcohol has become, and it is crucial that students are arriving to school sober as to focus and do their work to the best of their ability. Educational performance could be lacking due to the fact that students’ alcohol intake isn’t monitored and numerous teens are becoming careless and heading in the wrong direction.
Recently, St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois, has been in the spotlight. Typically, all of the enrolled students are expected to give hair samples in the autumn in order for the annual drug testing to take place. During the rest of the school year, teens are chosen an unsystematic manner. This custom differs from our own school’s policy, as students are not currently drug tested. Instead, drug-sniffing dogs are walked through the halls every so often. This past October, the private school implemented a new tradition that is conducted just as simply as drug testing; alcohol testing.
St. Viator’s school president, Corey Brost, opened up to the Chicago Tribune, declaring, “We’re morally obliged to do the best we can to help our kids grow.” Other schools throughout the country are investing in this innovative form of alcohol assessment, causing an uproar of controversy among educational faculties as they debate the idea.
Alcohol testing has nothing but potential to benefit everyone involved. The students who are disrupting the professional educational atmosphere would be properly disciplined and counseled for their actions. On top of this, it could introduce teens who endure addiction to support and relief efforts. Students who don’t abuse substances would have a more peaceful and advantageous school day, and staff members wouldn’t be forced to deal with as large of an amount of kids who don’t cooperate and don’t have a true motivation to learn.
It is completely necessary for alcohol testing to be introduced to more schools throughout the nation to secure the well-being and responsibility of the student body. Joliet West could benefit from the implementation of alcohol testing, as those who need dependence assistance could be identified and helped appropriately. Although alcohol testing is not currently a thought being considered, the Joliet community could see an exceptional and ground-breaking change among the younger generations.