School drug policy violates rights
Collegian Opinion

    For all the talk of protecting and saving the children, this country seems bent on stripping away all of their basic rights.

   A case before the Supreme Court has a student challenging an Oklahoma school district’s drug testing policy. The student felt it was an invasion of her privacy to be tested for drugs in order to perform in the school choir and has taken the case to the highest court in the land.

   We can always hope the court will not drop the ball on this case as it has consistently done when it comes to civil liberties lately.

   The conservative justices seem to think that the testing is more than appropriate if it keeps the “druggies” out of public schools.

   Apparently, if someone experiments with any drugs, then he is a “druggie” and does not deserve an education anymore.

   The most shocking aspect is that these justices do not think that students who have or have had a drug problem deserve any help to get back on the right track.

   It would seem that these students might be in desperate need of a quality education and the added attention that comes from extracurricular activities. But, it is much easier to just throw them away and doom them to a life of ignorance because of a few bad choices.

   Much of this attitude can be explained by the United States’ rampant paranoia toward drugs. However, this does not include Prozac, Ritalin, Viagra or other drugs manufactured by pharmaceutical companies.

   That is the biggest problem with our insane war on drugs. We live in a drug-filled society, but we then tell children drugs are bad, and if they do drugs, we consider them criminals.

   Another great message from a nation that attempted prohibition of alcohol and failed miserably.

   How much longer are we going to invade an individual’s privacy?
This nation is founded on the idea that innocence is assumed until proven otherwise, but now we want proof of that.

   The argument usually is that if one is not doing anything wrong, then there is nothing to hide. By that logic, police should just be able to search houses, cars and other personal belongings at will.

   That does not sound like the concept of America or a free nation. We are slowly starting to resemble Afghanistan more than the United States.

   Our Founding Fathers would be horrified to see what we have done to the rights for which they fought.

   But it is for the sake of our children’s safety because we all know how dangerous a drug-addled choir student can be to others.

   We should be careful what we do to our children because they will remember it. Will they grow up to be bitter about all that was denied them or will they be so sheltered and protected that they will not even be able to think or care for themselves?

   The big question is who will save the children from us?