Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sassan K. on August 23, 2011 at 12:14am

I have said I am "not sure" yet. I will let you know when I come to a conclusion of my advice. And this program wasn't in my school when I was in high school, so I can't say whether my parents would or would not have enrolled me in this program or not since they never had the choice..

And I do base it both on psychological and legal principles. Psychologically I know that this can create a rift. At the same time, psychologically I do know that he has a narcissistic personality and high sense of self-worth and the pressure to keep his ego high due to his narcissism and impressing other people might make him fall into peer pressure. Therefore - I am analyzing this based on my brother's psychological profile and what I know of him more than legal justifications per-say.

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Permalink Reply by Jacob on August 22, 2011 at 6:54pm

Well, I think it is a violation of trust, and whilst, as you argue that kids have less rights, people should teach children what it's like to be an adult as early as possible. In real life you're not going to have someone checking that you're doing everything right.

Also I doubt random tests will even effect the amount of people who get into drugs, and really, if they're just searching for weed, it's pointless anyway, weed is good

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Permalink Reply by Kris Feenstra on August 22, 2011 at 7:22pm

There is also a difference between what is permissible under the law or human rights agreements and what is actually a good idea. There are many things we can do, but should not do out of a basic sense of decency, courtesy, and respect.

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Permalink Reply by matt.clerke on August 22, 2011 at 9:00pm

Another point to think about is what drugs are being tested for? I believe the standard drug tests are looking for the usual line-up of illegals, marijuana, cocaine, heroic, etc. Since marijuana stays in the body and can be detected for a long time, some kids might use other (possibly more dangerous/addicting) drugs if they are out of the body faster to avoid the possibility of detection. I'm not sure of the validity of this but I've read it from multiple sources. Worth considering.

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Permalink Reply by James on August 22, 2011 at 10:18pm

If I had kids, yes I would. I don't feel like it should cause a trust issue or drive the kid to actually do drugs. My parents made it clear that they didn't want up doing drugs, and guess what... I never have, nor have I ever considered doing so. Trust? When my employer has had a random testing policy, I never felt like I was being signaled out, nor did I loose any 'trust'. Heck, I had to be tested on two separate occasions with the same employer. Perhaps a kid may try to shift the blame in these ways if they have a guilty conscious. But in those cases, it's the kid at fault, not the parent.

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Permalink Reply by Kris Feenstra on August 22, 2011 at 10:51pm

I don't think it would drive the kid to do drugs, but the fact of the matter is, you don't trust them in that regard if you feel the test is fair or needed.  

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Permalink Reply by James on August 23, 2011 at 12:05am

I would hope that I did everything I could to educate my hypothetical kid. But no matter how you raise them, they can do stupid things. I think of it more as a redundancy check, just in case. Kids can be prone to randomly doing things out of character. So I may trust them 99% of the time, but still realize that given the right pressures they may do something I would never expect from them.If it were a parental request to definitely test your kid I would agree that you certainty don't trust them. But with it being random, I feel that it's less a trust issue and more of a 'just in case' thing.

 

But if we were to take the trust thing further, should a parent ask to see their kid's report card? Or does not simply taking their word for it concerning their grades also mean that you don't trust them as well? 

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Permalink Reply by Kris Feenstra on August 23, 2011 at 12:22am

My parents actually didn't check my report cards by the time I was old enough to drive, but honestly, the two things are hardly equal anyway. Report cards are given out already as a matter of due process directly relevant to the current educational process. The same cannot be said for random drug checks.

"Kids can be prone to randomly doing things out of character."

I don't know a single person who didn't do something profoundly stupid growing up, but that was life. Pretty much everyone learned from whatever it was that they did and then got over it. It's not like I'm saying that parents can't be involved in their children's lives and keep an eye on them, but at the same time, they have to set limits on how far they pry and allow their kids to have some privacy in their lives.

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Permalink Reply by Sassan K. on August 23, 2011 at 12:24am

We do know that children/teens brains have not grown to full capacity in their executive functioning abilities in making the wisest decisions but are driven more on impulse or short-sighted thinking without thinking about the long-term consequences.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Minion on August 23, 2011 at 12:55am

So why not put them in a position were they can be criminalized..

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Permalink Reply by Isaac on August 22, 2011 at 10:59pm

If I have kids and they are failing to achieve in school and a plausible reason for such failures could be the result of drugs, then I would have no problem getting them "randomly" tested by the school. However, if my future kids are successful in school, then I wouldn't really give a crap as to whether or not they choose to do drugs. I wouldn't sign them up for the program unless I thought it is really necessary.

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Permalink Reply by Becca on August 23, 2011 at 1:05am

 No I would not sign my child up to be randomly drug tested. Just like there are laws protecting us against unreasonable search and seizure no one should be subject to a drug test without reasonable cause.

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