The school just called. It was the nurse. I’m thinking, “great, she knocked her front teeth out in gym” or “She is throwing up, can I come pick her up?”. No, the nurse was happy to assure me that Brooke had participated in the random drug test and there were no drugs in her system.
No duh. *I* could have told them that. The kid is as clean as a whistle. How do I know? She spends all of her free time teaching herself Chinese. I have the notebooks to prove it. She just won a prestigious award in German. She never emerges from her basement lair unless she is lured up with food. I can’t even get her to hang out with her friends. WHEN was she going to be doing drugs??
Is there any reason to test her? No. It’s just to keep kids on their toes, like some panopticon thing. Make them feel guilty without even trying. And what’s this crap about “participated”? It’s more like coerced. If she doesn’t hand over the pee, she can’t participate in any after school programs.
Why can’t we suspect a kid of being bad before we jump all over their case about it?
This is where the next round of authoritarian followers will come from.
Back to the nurse, she just wanted to call to tell me that the kid isn’t on drugs, isn’t that delightful? She always wants parents to know even when there is a good result, just to let them know that we are keeping an eye on everything they do and say and breath. Yes, it’s a conspiracy between parents and teachers to keep these teenagers as toddlers as long as we possibly can. They must remain under our watchful eye even when all evidence points to them being really terrific human beings.
I told the nurse that the drug test wasn’t necessary and I am not concerned. In fact, I think they should have called me BEFORE they pulled her out randomly for a drug test and asked me if she needed it. Otherwise, I just see it as a violation of trust and her civil rights. Of course, the board of ed could always argue she’s a minor and therefore doesn’t have any civil rights. But it does make us suspicious of each other. Parents learn to immediately suspect the worst of their children and children learn that nothing is off limits to scrutiny even when there is no reason to suspect anything.
Oh, and the school is in lockdown mode because of some rumor of something happening in another school district somewhere else. For gawdssakes, this is the most boring suburb on the face of the planet. Nothing happens here. You can’t even crowd surf the hallways in the last week of school without being barred from graduation. So, no one can leave the school grounds during lockdown. Like they were breaking down the doors to get out on a normal day. Doesn’t “lockdown” sound like a prison term? It’s overkill.
Home schooling is looking pretty damn good right about now.
Filed under: General | Tagged: authoritarianism, civil rights, high school, lockdown, privacy, random drug tests |
The Confluence 
That is weird. I don’t know if they are doing that in my state but I think there was something where anyone who participated in extra-curricular activities would have to do drug tests. I don’t know if it was implemented.
Privacy is not a feature of our culture any more, between the social media and our government over-reach, I don’t think kids growing up since 9-11 even realize they have a right to expect privacy.
Wow, you nailed it. They have no expectation of privacy. It’s outrageous.
Creepy.
I think that’s their goal; to indoctrinate future citizens with the belief that they have zero rights to anything, including privacy. No wonder kids will trade the SSN for a candy bar!
I think one contributing factor has been the growth of home video cameras–first VHS, then digital. Today’s youngsters have grown up on camera. If I understand correctly, some “idjit” parents even record their youngsters using the damn toilet, for Haruhi’s sake. No wonder the poor kids don’t expect privacy.
Home schooling is looking pretty damn good right about now.
I hate to just say, “this,” but THIS.
My daughter is four or five years away from entering the public school system but whenever I read stories like this I feel like I’m going to be constantly battling the school board and administrators. I’m going to end up being one of those parents who is considered an utter pain in the ass, which on many levels I’m find with but I do get sick of constantly fighting the rolling waves of stupidity which seem to ceaselessly come crashing down. Okay, they don’t do piss tests on kindergarteners (yet?), but to know this is coming down the pike infuriates me.
I think people in power took Orwell’s novels as instruction manuals while the rest of us ignored their warnings.
[…] Filed under: General Tagged: authoritarianism, civil rights, high school, lockdown, privacy, random drug tests The Confluence […]
Part of my joy at my daughter’s graduation was knowing I was done with the public school system.
This is crazy. They definitely should have called to inform you and get your permission (or denial) before doing anything that affects protected health information on your kid. Or they could have stuck it in the fine print for something else that parents were supposed to sign.
No privacy. And a waste of $$ to boot.
Apparently, I signed onto this when I signed her up for extra curricular programs at the beginning of the year.
The schools are run by control freaks these days. Parents and educators need to learn to chill or these kids will graduate without knowing how to do anything for themselves.
Watch out for blood drives. My son gave blood and mentioned to me that he was asked for his Social Security Number by the people taking the blood. I called them and asked them why they needed it. They said they did not need minor children’s SSN’s for any reason (which is probably true) but that the children are told they do not have to give it (which my son said was not true, in his case.)
I find that if I ask people who ask for my SSN why they need it (if they’re not employers or somehow involved in employment, they often say, “You don’t have to give it to us.” I even called the U.S. FTC about an identity theft issue, and THEY asked for my SSN. I asked why they needed it, as they, themselves, caution people not to give out SSNs indiscriminately, and I was told they don’t need it.
My daughter went to a public school in 8th grade. One day she came home with a card from the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office stating that she had failed a random drug search. The drug? A single Midol tablet. I called the Sheriff who piously explained his zero-tolerance drug policy for the public schools. I explained my zero-tolerance stupidity policy, refused to sign the card and dared him to prevent my daughter from returning to school. She returned to school the next day and we never heard another word about it. My advice to you is to be the kind of mother public school functionaries hate. Worked for me and my daughter who now has a Ph.D. in cell biology.
So, who instituted this? Is it state wide or just your school district? What is the make up of your school board, how many Democrats, how many republicans?
Creepy, RD.