♦ Staff Editorial ♦

All student leaders need help to do their jobs well. They need help learning to catch a pass, organize a food drive, score a winning goal, and guide their teammates.

Those students involved in extracurricular activities receive that help from a variety of dedicated NNHS staff members.

But before they took to the fields and their various clubs, they signed into a contract stating they wouldn’t abuse alcohol or drugs. It seems as though some students need help keeping this promise, especially those battling substance abuse. This help can, in fact, be life-saving.

It is for this reason that “The North Star” urges the school board to implement drug testing to address those students that need additional support.

Of the ideas being considered, mandatory drug testing of only students bound by co-curricular and IHSA participation codes is the most fair and effective plan to discourage drug use among only those students. Voluntary drug testing of the entire student population is not acceptable. These suggestions blatantly invade student privacy, and it’s not the place of high schools to cross these lines.

However, when students sign the co-curricular code, which states explicitly that drug and alcohol use are prohibited during competition season, they contractually state that they will not engage in these behaviors, and the school district has an interest in holding them accountable for such a promise. At this point, it becomes the school’s job to demonstrate that such policies are enforced, not ignored. Students need to understand that the commitments they make should be honored, and drug testing helps secure that understanding. Drug testing of  students who have signed the co-curricular code sends the message that the district wants to protect the well being of its students by teaching them to follow through with their word. In this way, the district not only attacks the drug use problem, but it also teaches a life lesson in the importance of truth and honor.

But this course of action needs to make helping students a priority. It cannot be about punishment or suspension. For many, membership on a team or club forms an identity that, if taken away, will leave them  lost and likely to turn back to drug use. If the board drafts a policy, it will no doubt include a clear protocol that outlines what steps will be taken if a student tests positive. We do not believe suspension should be the center of that protocol. The plan should assist, not attack. The district needs to demonstrate its desire to help through guidance, education, and other services necessary to treat the student.  Students can either grow from their mistakes in a supportive environment or return to them in a punitive one. It is clear that the board should make it a priority to do the former.

The mission of the district is to support students in their learning. When implementing mandatory drug testing of co-curricular students, the intention should remain as such. Drug testing and what it entails must support students in their quest to become strong learners and strong people.