The National Institute on Drug Abuse’s discovery that 36.5 percent of public high school seniors in 2006 reportedly used an illicit drug in the past year is hardly an encouraging figure, but random drug tests administered by schools is simply not a viable way to counteract this trend.

Randomly testing public high school students has no place in our country because of the consequences such a practice would impose on the fiscal situations of public school districts, the aspect of social responsibility and, perhaps most importantly, the constitutional guarantees Americans are so fond of protecting when it suits them individually.

According to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), approximately 90 percent of drug tests conducted in America each year are done by urinalysis – testing the urine of an individual for the presence of illegal drugs. A May 2006 article on www.mhmonline.com – a corporate resource management reference site – says an average urinalysis test kit costs about $35.

Consider a high school of 2,000 students: To test 20 percent of the student body, or 400 students per year would cost the district roughly $14,000. Not to say all public high schools in America suffer from restricting budgets, but it would certainly be safe to say a substantial number of these schools simply couldn’t comfortably fit this expense into their budgets.

Not only would it be fiscally irresponsible of these schools to support randomly drug testing students, it completely neglects a parent’s responsibility to instill in their children a sense of societal contribution and abidance of the social and legal rules and laws in place. When a parent fails at this and their child opts to use drugs, it is the duty and responsibility of local police organizations – not public schools – to address and rectify the situation.

Teachers and faculty members of America’s high schools are not trained to deal with violations of the American system of law. Those working in the school system certainly fill an invaluable role in our society by teaching and molding young adults in preparation for the next stage of personal and professional development, but it is yet another social irresponsibility to expect or even ask them to play the part of the police force and judicial system within America’s public schools.

Another consideration: A high school installs the practice of attempting to monitor students’ personal behavior outside the educational realm by imposing random drug tests on the student body throughout a school year. This would logically interfere with a school’s ability to address and appropriately handle common disciplinary and behavioral scenarios existing within the school during normal school hours.

In other words, time spent drug testing students is time not spent keeping students in class, moderating conflicts between students and teachers, and enforcing and maintaining other routine rules and aspects of the school’s daily happenings.

Despite the problems randomly drug testing public high school students poses, the meat of the matter is a constitutional one. As found in an article on the National Drug Strategy Network Web site, no court has ever condoned subjecting random drug testing to students in public schools.

Unless the Supreme Court ultimately rules that randomly drug testing public school students is both socially and legally acceptable, it stands that this idea is a frivolous and speculative one, with no place in America’s public schools.