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Schools Without Drugs A Plan for Us All
A Plan for Achieving Schools Without Drugs
PARENTS:
1. Teach standards of right and wrong, and demonstrate
these standards through personal example.
2. Help children to resist poor pressure to use alcohol and
other drugs by supervising their activities, knowing who
their friends are, and talking with them about their
interests and problems.
3. Be knowledgeable about drugs and signs of drug use. When
symptoms are observed, respond promptly.
SCHOOLS:
4. Determine the extent and character of alcohol and other
drug use and monitor that use regularly.
5. Establish clear and specific rules regarding alcohol and
other drug use that include strong corrective actions.
6. Enforce established policies against drug use fairly and
consistently. Ensure adequate security measures to
eliminate drugs from school premises and school functions.
7. Implement a comprehensive drug prevention curriculum for
kindergarten through grade 12, teaching that drug use is
wrong and harmful, and supporting and strengthening
resistance to drugs.
8. Reach out to the community for support and assistance
in making the school's anti-drug policy and program work.
Develop collaborative arrangements in which school
personnel, parents, school boards, law enforcement
officers, treatment organizations, and private groups can
work together to provide necessary resources.
STUDENTS:
9. Learn about the effects of alcohol and other drug use, the
reasons why drugs are harmful, and ways to resist pressures to
try drugs.
10. Use an understanding of the danger posed by alcohol and
other drugs to help other students avoid them. Encourage
other students to resist drugs, persuade those using drugs
to seek help, and report those selling drugs to parents
and the school principal.
COMMUNITIES:
11. Help schools fight drugs by providing them with the
expertise and financial resources of community groups and
agencies.
12. Involve local law enforcement agencies in all aspects
of drug prevention: assessment, enforcement, and education.
The police and courts should have well-established
relationships with the schools.
"I felt depressed and hurt all the time. I hated myself
for the way I hurt my parents and treated them so cruelly
and for the way I treated others. I hated myself the most,
though, for the way I treated myself. I would take drugs
until I overdosed, and fell further and further behind in
school and work and relationships with others. I just
didn't care anymore whether I lived or died. I stopped
going to school altogether .... I felt constantly
depressed and began having thoughts of suicide, which
scared me a lot! I didn't know where to turn..."
--Stewart, a high school student
CHILDREN AND DRUGS
When 13- to 18-year-olds were asked to name the biggest
problem facing young people today, drug use led the list.
In 1987, 54 percent of teens cited drugs as their greatest
concern--up from 27 percent only 10 years earlier.
Eighty-nine percent of teens oppose legalization of
marijuana, and 77 percent believe it would be wrong to
decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana.
Drugs and alcohol rank high on the list of topics that
teens wish they could discuss more with their parents--42
percent want more discussions with parents about drugs, and
39 percent feel the need to talk about drinking.
--The Gallup Youth Surveys, 1987 and 1988
Adult's share this concern, ranking student drug use as
the most serious problem facing our nation's schools for
the third consecutive year.
--20th Annual Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes
Toward Public Schools, 1988
Children and Drugs
Americans have consistently identified drug use as being
among the top problems confronting the nation's schools.
Yet many do not recognize the degree to which their own
children, their own schools, and their own communities are
at risk.
Research shows that drug use among children is 10 times
more prevalent than parents suspect. In addition, many
students know that their parents do not recognize the
extent of drug use; as a result, some young people believe
that they can use drugs with impunity.
School administrators and teachers often are unaware that
some of their students are using and selling drugs on
school property. As Ralph Egers, former superintendent of
schools in South Portland, Maine, put it, "We'd like to
think that our kids don't have this problem, but the
brightest kid from the best family in the community could
have the problem."
The facts are:
* Drug use is not confined to young people in certain
geographic areas or from particular economic
backgrounds; drug use affects young people throughout
the nation.
* Drugs are a serious problem not only among high school
students but among middle and elementary school
students as well.
* Heavy drinking, defined as five or more drinks on one
occasion, is reported by 30 percent of high school
seniors, and more than one-half are occasional users
of alcohol.
* All illegal drugs are dangerous; there is no such
thing as safe or responsible use of illegal drugs.
* Although drug trafficking is controlled by adults, the
immediate source of drugs for most students is other
students.
Continuing misconceptions about the drug problem stand
in the way of corrective action. The following section
outlines the nature and extent of the problem and summaries
the latest research on the effects of drugs on students and
schools.
Extent of Alcohol and Other Drug Use
Drug use is widespread among American schoolchildren.
Although a national study of high school seniors in 1991
shows that drug use among young people is declining, the
figures remain unacceptably high (see Figure 2). The United
States continues to have the highest rate of teenage drug
use of any nation in the industrialized world. Forty-four
percent of high school seniors have tried an illicit drug
by the time they graduate. Alcohol is the most widely used
drug. By their senior year, 88 percent of students in the
class of 1991 had used alcohol; 78 percent had used alcohol
in the past year and 54 percent had used it in the month
prior to the survey. Thirty percent of seniors surveyed
reported at least one occasion of heavy drinking in the two
weeks prior to the survey--an occasion in which they had
five or more drinks in a row.
Twenty-four percent of 1991 seniors reported using
marijuana in the past year, and 14 percent said they had
used it at least once in the previous month. Three and one-
half percent of seniors indicated that they had used
cocaine in the past year. Three percent of seniors had used
crack, and 1.5 percent had used it within the last year.
The drug problem affects all types of students. All
regions and all types of communities show high levels of
drug use. Thirty percent of 1990 high school seniors in
nonmetropolitan areas reported illicit drug use in the
previous year, while the rate for seniors in large
metropolitan areas was 33 percent. Although higher
proportions of males are involved in illicit drug use,
specially heavy drug use, the gap between the sexes is
closing. The extent to which high school seniors reported
having used illicit drugs is higher for whites than for
blacks.
Initial use of alcohol and other drugs occurs at an
increasingly early age. Nineteen percent of seniors report
they had initiated cigarette use by sixth grade and 11
percent had used alcohol. Forty-four percent of 8th graders
have tried cigarettes, and 70 percent have at least tried
alcohol. Twenty-seven percent of 8th graders have gotten
drunk at least once, and 13 percent report they have
consumed five or more drinks in a row. Of the illicit
drugs, marijuana and inhalants show the earliest pattern of
initiation; about 2.8 percent of seniors had begun using
both of these substances by the 6th grade. The peak
initiation rate is reached by 9th grade. Peak initiation
rates for cocaine and hallucinogens are reached in 10th and
11th grade with the initiation rate for nearly all drugs
falling off by 12th grade.
Fact Sheet
Drugs and Dependence
Drugs cause physical and emotional dependence. Users
may develop a craving for specific drugs, and their bodies
may respond to the presence of drugs in ways that lead to
increased drug use.
* Regular users of drugs develop tolerance, a need to
take larger doses to get the same initial effect. They
may respond by combining drugs, frequently with
devastating results. Many teenage drug users calling a
national cocaine hotline report that they take other
drugs just to counteract the unpleasant effects of
cocaine.
* Certain drugs, such as opiates, barbituates, alcohol,
and nicotine, create physical dependence. With
prolonged use, these drugs become part of the body
chemistry. When a regular user stops taking the drug,
the body experiences the physiological trauma known as
withdrawal.
* Psychological dependence occurs when taking drugs
becomes the center of the user's life. Among children,
psychological dependence erodes school performance and
can destroy ties to family and friends, as well as
cause the child to abandon outside interests, values,
and goals. The child goes from taking drugs to feel
good, to taking them to keep from feeling bad. Over
time, drug use itself heightens the bad feelings and
can leave the user suicidal. More than half of all
adolescent suicides are drug-related.
* Drugs can remain in the body long after use has
stopped. The extent to which a drug is retained in
the body depends on the drug's chemical composition,
that is, whether it is fat-soluble. Fat-soluble drugs
such as marijuana and phencyclidine (PCP) seek out and
settle in the fatty tissues. As a result, they build
up in the fatty parts of the body such as the brain.
Such accumulations of drugs and their slow release
over time may have effects on the mind and body weeks
or even months after drug use has stopped.
How Drug Use Develops
Social influences play a key role in making drug use
attractive to children.
The first temptations to use drugs may come in social
situations in the form of pressures to "act grown up" by
smoking cigarettes or using alcohol or marijuana.
A 1987 Weekly Reader survey found that television and
movies had the greatest influence on fourth through sixth
graders in making drugs and alcohol seem attractive; the
second greatest influence was other children.
The survey offers insights into why students take
drugs. Children in grades four through six think that the
most important reason for using alcohol and marijuana is to
"fit in with others," followed closely by a desire "to feel
older." Students also have incomplete or inaccurate
information. For example, only 44 percent of sixth graders
polled in a national survey think alcohol should be called
a drug. This finding reinforces the need for prevention
programs beginning in the early grades--programs that focus
on teaching children the facts about drugs and alcohol and
the skills to resist peer pressure to use them.
Students who turn to more potent drugs usually do so
after first using cigarettes and alcohol, and then
marijuana. Initial attempts may not produce a "high";
however, students who continue to use drugs learn that
drugs can change their thoughts and feelings. The greater a
student's involvement with marijuana, the more likely it is
the student will begin to use other drugs in conjunction
with marijuana.
Drug use frequently progresses in stages--from
occasional use, to regular use, to multiple drug use, and
ultimately to total dependency. With each successive stage,
drug use intensifies, becomes more varied, and results in
increasingly debilitating effects.
But this progression is not inevitable. Drug use can
be stopped at any stage. However, the more deeply involved
children are with drugs, the more difficult it is for them
to stop. The best way to fight drug use is to begin
prevention efforts before children start using drugs.
Prevention efforts that focus on young children are the
most effective means to fight drug use.
Fact Sheet
Youth and Alcohol
Alcohol is the number one drug problem among youth.
The easy availability, widespread acceptability, and
extensive promotion of alcoholic beverages within our
society make alcohol the most widely used and abused drug.
* Alcohol use is widespread. By their senior year of
high school nearly 90 percent of students will have
tried alcoholic beverages. Despite a legal drinking
age of 21, junior and senior high school students
drink 35 percent of all wine coolers sold in the
United States. They also drink an estimated 1.1
billion bottles and cans of beer each year.
* Drinking has acute effects on the body. The heavy,
fast-paced drinking that young people commonly engage
in quickly alters judgment, vision, coordination, and
speech and often leads to dangerous risk-taking
behavior. Because young people have lower body weight
than adults, youth absorb alcohol into their blood
system faster than adults and exhibit greater
impairment for longer periods of time. Alcohol use
not only increases the likelihood of being involved in
an accident, it increases the risk of serious
injury in an accident because of its harmful effects
on numerous parts of the body.
* Alcohol-related highway accidents are the principal
cause of death among young people ages 15 through 24.
Alcohol use is the primary cause of traffic accidents
involving teenage drivers. Furthermore, about half of
all youthful deaths in drowning, fires, suicide, and
homicide are alcohol-related.
* Any alcoholic beverage can be misused. Contrary to
popular belief, drinking beer or wine can have effects
similar to drinking "hard" liquor. A bottle of beer, a
glass of wine, or a bottle of wine cooler have about
the same amount of ethyl alcohol as a drink made with
liquor. Those who drive "under the influence" are most
likely to have been drinking beer.
* Early alcohol use is associated with subsequent
alcohol dependence and related health problems. Youth
who use alcohol at a younger age are more likely to
use alcohol heavily and to experience alcohol-related
problems affecting their relationships with family and
friends by late adolescence. Their school performance
is likely to suffer, and they are more likely to be
truant. They are also more likely to abuse other drugs
and to get in trouble with the law, or, if they are
girls, to become pregnant.
Effects of Drug Use
The drugs students are taking today are more potent,
more dangerous, and more addictive than ever.
Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the effects
of drugs. Drugs threaten normal development in a number of
ways:
* Drugs can interfere with memory, sensation, and
perception. They distort experiences and cause a loss
of self-control that can lead users to harm themselves
and others.
* Drugs interfere with the brain's ability to take in,
sort, and synthesize information. As a result, sensory
information runs together, providing new sensations
while blocking normal ability to understand the
information received.
* Drugs can have an insidious effect on perception; for
example, cocaine and amphetamines often give users a
false sense of functioning at their best while on the
drug.
Drug suppliers have responded to the increasing demand
for drugs by developing new strains, producing reprocessed,
purified drugs, and using underground laboratories to
create more powerful forms of illegal drugs. Consequently,
users are exposed to heightened or unknown levels of risk.
* The marijuana produced today is from 5 to 20 times
stronger than that available as recently as 10 years
ago. Regular use by adolescents has been associated
with an "amotivational syndrome," characterized by
apathy and loss of goals. Research has shown that
severe psychological damage, including paranoia and
psychosis, can occur when marijuana contains 2 percent
THC, its major psychoactive ingredient. Since the
early 1980s, most marijuana has contained from 4 to 6
percent THC-two or three times the amount capable of
causing serious damage.
* Crack is a purified and highly addictive form of
cocaine.
* Phencyclidine (PCP), first developed as an animal
tranquilizer, has unpredictable and often violent
effects. Often children do not even know that they
are using this drug when PCP-laced parsley in
cigarette form is passed off as marijuana, or when PCP
in crystal form is sold as lysergic acid (LSD).
* Some of the "designer" drugs, slight chemical
variations of existing illegal drugs, have been known
to cause permanent brain damage with a single dose.
Further information about drugs is presented in the
Resources Section.
Fact Sheet
Cocaine: Crack
Cocaine is readily available. Fifty-one percent of
seniors say it would be easy for them to get cocaine. Most
alarming is the ready availability of cocaine in a cheap
but potent form called crack or rock. Crack is a purified
form of cocaine that is smoked.
* Crack is inexpensive to try. Crack is available for as
little as $5. As a result, the drug is affordable to
many potential users, including high school and even
elementary school students.
* Crack is easy to use. It is sold in pieces resembling
small white gravel or soap chips and is sometimes
pressed into small pellets. Crack can be smoked in a
pipe or put into a cigarette. The visible effects
disappear within minutes after smoking, so detection
is difficult.
* Crack is extremely addictive. Crack is far more
addictive than heroin or barbiturates. Because crack
is smoked, it is quickly absorbed into the blood
stream. It produces a feeling of extreme euphoria,
peaking within seconds. Repeated use of crack can
lead to addiction within a few days.
* Crack leads to crime and severe psychological
disorders. Many youths, once addicted, have turned to
stealing, prostitution, and drug dealing in order to
support their habit. Continued use can produce violent
behavior and psychotic states similar to
schizophrenia.
* Crack is deadly. Cocaine in any form, including crack,
can cause sudden death from cardiac arrest or
respiratory failure.
Drug Use and Learning
Drugs erode the self-discipline and motivation
necessary for learning. Pervasive drug use among students
creates a climate in the schools that is destructive to
learning.
Research shows that drug use can cause a decline in
academic performance. This has been found to be true for
students who excelled in school prior to drug use as well
as for those with academic or behavioral problems prior to
use. According to one study, students using marijuana were
twice as likely to average D's and F's as other students.
The decline in grades often reverses when drug use is
stopped.
Drug use is closely tied to being truant and dropping
out of school. High school seniors who are heavy drug users
are more than three times as likely to skip school as
nonusers. About one-fifth of heavy users skipped three or
more school days a month, more than six times the truancy
rate of nonusers. In a Philadelphia study, dropouts were
almost twice as likely to be frequent drug users as were
high school graduates; four in five dropouts used drugs
regularly.
Drug use is associated with crime and misconduct that
disrupt the maintenance of an orderly and safe school
atmosphere conducive to learning. Drugs not only transform
schools into marketplaces for dope deals, they also lead to
the destruction of property and to classroom disorder.
Among high school seniors, heavy drug users were more than
three times as likely to vandalize school property and
twice as likely to have been involved in a fight at school
or at work as nonusers. Students on drugs create a climate
of apathy, disruption, and disrespect for others. For
example, among teenage callers to a national cocaine
hotline, 32 percent reported that they sold drugs, and 64
percent said that they stole from family, friends, or
employers to buy drugs. A drug-ridden environment is a
strong deterrent to learning not only for drug users but
for other students as well.
A PLAN FOR ACTION
To combat student drug use most effectively, the
entire community must be involved: parents, schools,
students, law enforcement authorities, religious groups,
social service agencies, and the media. They all must
transmit a single consistent message that drug use is wrong
and dangerous, and it will not be tolerated. This message
must be reinforced through strong, consistent law
enforcement and disciplinary measures.
The following recommendations and examples describe
actions that can be taken by parents, schools, students,
and communities to stop drug use. These recommendations are
derived from research and from the experiences of schools
throughout the country. They show that the drug problem can
be overcome.
WHAT PARENTS CAN DO
* Teach standards of right and wrong, and demonstrate
these standards through personal example.
* Help children to resist peer pressure to use alcohol
and other drugs by supervising their activities,
knowing who their friends are, and talking with
them about their interests and problems.
* Be knowledgeable about drugs and signs of drug use.
When symptoms are observed, respond promptly.
Parents
Instilling Responsibility
Recommendation #1:
Teach standards of right and wrong and demonstrate
these standards through personal example.
Children who are brought up to value individual
responsibility and self-discipline and to have a clear
sense of right and wrong are less likely to try drugs than
those who are not. Parents can help to instill these values
by:
* Setting a good example for children and not using
drugs themselves.
* Explaining to their children at an early age that drug
use is wrong, harmful, and unlawful, and reinforcing
this teaching throughout adolescence.
* Encouraging self-discipline by giving children regular
duties and holding them accountable for their actions.
* Establishing standards of behavior concerning drugs,
drinking, dating, curfews, and unsupervised
activities, and enforcing them consistently and
fairly.
* Encouraging their children to stand by their
convictions when pressured to use drugs.
Central Elementary
Gulfport, Mississippi
Every afternoon after the last bell rings, the POP
(Parents on Patrol) Team springs into action. With their
T-shirts proclaiming "Drug-Free Body" and whistles at the
ready, their mission is to ensure that all children get off
the school grounds and on their way home safely. POPs are
also posted several blocks away from campus. They send a
strong signal to any dealers and drug users who may be in
the neighborhood (which has the highest rate of drug-
related crime in Gulfport), that these children have higher
goals, healthier aspirations.
The POP team is just one way parents are involved in
the drug prevention program at Central Elementary. Spurred,
in part, by the high rate of drug activity in the school's
surrounding neighborhood, the Central staff made an early
commitment to involving parents, grandparents, aunts,
uncles and other caregivers in all aspects of the program's
development.
The school helped train parents to go into the
community--to churches and social centers--to teach drug
awareness and provide child rearing classes. Newsletters
and home visits support Central's outreach.
Inherent in the school's drug prevention program is
the philosophy that the best prevention is providing
healthy, challenging activities for the mind. High on
Checkers is just one such program. Central checker players
not only compete within the school, they take field trips
to the "checker capital of the world" 70 miles from
Gulfport. Central champions have even played in tournaments
in Russia and England. Parent volunteers make travel
possible by seeking donations, holding fund-raising events,
and serving as chaperons.
Teachers and parents also devote time and energy to
other activities such as the highly acclaimed Boys Choir, a
problem-solving club called the Think Tank, and the Central
Student Council, one of the few elementary councils in
Mississippi.
Parents may also volunteer to read to students, to
help with the physical education program, or to be a
"buddy" in the cafeteria. Several parents have acknowledged
that the Central drug-free efforts have made a positive
difference not only in the lives of their children, but in
their own lives as well.
Parents
Supervising Activities
Recommendation #2:
Help children to resist peer pressure to use alcohol
and other drugs by supervising their activities, knowing
who their friends are, and talking with them about their
interests and problems.
When parents take an active interest in their
children's behavior, they provide the guidance and support
children need to resist drugs. Parents can do this by:
* Knowing their children's whereabouts, activities, and
friends.
* Working to maintain and improve family communications
and listening to their children.
* Being able to discuss drugs knowledgeably. It is far
better for children to obtain their information from
their parents than from their peers or on the street.
* Communicating regularly with the parents of their
children's friends and sharing their knowledge about
drugs with other parents.
* Being selective about their children's viewing of
television and movies that portray drug use as
glamorous or exciting.
In addition, parents can work with the school in its
efforts to fight drugs by:
* Encouraging the development of a school policy with a
clear no-use message.
* Supporting administrators who are tough on drugs.
* Assisting the school in monitoring students'
attendance and planning and chaperoning school-
sponsored activities.
* Communicating regularly with the school regarding
their children's behavior.
Fact Sheet
Signs of Drug Use
Changing patterns of performance, appearance, and
behavior may signal use of drugs. The items in the first
category listed below provide direct evidence of drug use;
the items in the other categories offer signs that may
indicate drug use. Adults should watch for extreme changes
in children's behavior, changes that together form a
pattern associated with drug use.
Signs of Drugs and Drug Paraphernalia
* Possession of drug-related paraphernalia such as
pipes, rolling papers, small decongestant bottles, eye
drops, or small butane torches.
* Possession of drugs or evidence of drugs, such as
pills, white powder, small glass vials, or hypodermic
needles; peculiar plants or butts, seeds, or leaves in
ashtrays or in clothing pockets.
* Odor of drugs, smell of incense or other "cover-up"
scents.
Identification with Drug Culture
* Drug-related magazines, slogans on clothing.
* Conversation and jokes that are preoccupied with
drugs.
* Hostility in discussing drugs.
* Collection of beer cans.
Signs of Physical Deterioration
* Memory lapses, short attention span, difficulty in
concentration.
* Poor physical coordination, slurred or incoherent
speech.
* Unhealthy appearance, indifference to hygiene and
grooming.
* Bloodshot eyes, dilated pupils.
Dramatic Changes in School Performance
* Marked downturn in student's grades--not just from C's
to F's, but from A's to B's and C's; assignments not
completed.
* Increased absenteeism or tardiness.
Changes in Behavior
* Chronic dishonesty (lying, stealing, cheating);
trouble with the police.
* Changes in friends, evasiveness in talking about new
ones.
* Possession of large amounts of money.
* Increasing and inappropriate anger, hostility,
irritability, secretiveness.
* Reduced motivation, energy, self-discipline, self-
esteem.
* Diminished interest in extracurricular activities and
hobbies.
Parents
Recognizing Drug Use
Recommendation #3:
Be knowledgeable about drugs and signs of drug use.
When symptoms are observed, respond promptly.
Parents are in the best position to recognize early
signs of drug use in their children. To inform and involve
themselves, parents should take the following steps:
* Learn about the extent of the drug problem in their
community and in their children's schools.
* Learn how to recognize signs of drug use.
* Meet with parents of their children's friends or
classmates about the drug problem at their school.
Establish a means of sharing information to determine
which children are using drugs and who is supplying
them.
Parents who suspect their children are using drugs
often must deal with their own emotions of anger,
resentment, and guilt. Frequently they deny the evidence
and postpone confronting their children. Yet, the earlier a
drug problem is detected and faced, the less difficult it
is to overcome. If parents suspect that their children are
using drugs, they should take the following steps:
* Devise a plan of action. Consult with school officials
and other parents.
* Discuss their suspicions with their children in a
calm, objective manner. Do not confront a child while
he or she is under the influence of alcohol or other
drugs.
* Impose disciplinary measures that help remove the
child from those circumstances where drug use might
occur.
* Seek advice and assistance from drug treatment
professionals and from a parent group. (For further
information, consult the Resources Section)
WHAT SCHOOLS CAN DO
* Determine the extent and character of alcohol and
other drug use and monitor that use regularly.
* Establish clear and specific rules regarding alcohol
and other drug use that include strong corrective
actions.
* Enforce established policies against alcohol and other
drug use fairly and consistently. Ensure adequate
security measures to eliminate drugs from school
premises and school functions.
* Implement a comprehensive drug prevention curriculum
for kindergarten through grade 12, teaching that drug
use is wrong and harmful, and supporting and
strengthening resistance to drugs.
* Reach out to the community for support and assistance
in making the school's anti-drug policy and program
work. Develop collaborative arrangements in which
school personnel, parents, school boards, law
enforcement officers, treatment organizations, and
private groups can work together to provide necessary
resources.
Schools
Assessing the Problem
Recommendation #4:
Determine the extent and character of alcohol and
other drug use and monitor that use regularly.
School personnel should be informed about the extent
of drugs in their school. School boards, superintendents,
and local public officials should support school
administrators in their efforts to assess the extent of the
drug problem and to combat it.
To guide and evaluate effective drug prevention
efforts, schools need to take the following actions:
* Conduct anonymous surveys of students and school
personnel and consult with local law enforcement
officials to identify the extent of the drug problem.
* Bring together school personnel to identify areas
where drugs are being used and sold.
* Meet with parents to help determine the nature and
extent of drug use.
* Maintain records on drug use and sale in the school
over time, for use in evaluating and improving
prevention efforts. In addition to self-reported drug
use patterns, records may include information on drug-
related arrests and school discipline problems.
* Inform the community, in straightforward language, of
the results of the school's assessment of the drug
problem.
Roncalli High School
Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Before Roncalli, a Catholic coed high school,
initiated its no-use drug policy in the early 1980s, it was
not uncommon after athletic events to see a parking lot
full of empty beer cans and to hear reports of students
charged with driving while intoxicated.
After an alcohol-related teenage traffic fatality
jolted he community, a district-wide survey was taken that
showed widespread drug and alcohol use by high school
students. The Roncalli student body was no exception. In
response, an action plan was developed by students,
parents, and the community that calls for referral and
treatment on the first offense for any student found in the
possession of or under the influence of alcohol or drugs at
any Roncalli High School activity. The consequence for a
second offense is dismissal.
Since this program's inception 13 years ago, only one
student has declined referral and treatment choosing
instead to leave school. Tracking surveys each year help
the faculty and students to monitor progress in achieving
the school's drug-free goal.
Positive peer pressure and team spirit are important
ingredients in Roncalli's anti-drug program. The student
group RADD (Roncalli Against Drinking and Drugs) operates
as an arm of the Student Senate to organize and coordinate
drug-free activities through the year. More than 90 percent
of the 650 students at Roncalli High participate in RADD's
activities that include dances, open gym, Trivial Pursuit
contests, Pictionary night, video screenings, and other
after-school events.
A Peer Helpers program matches all 120 incoming
freshmen with peers who provide information throughout the
year on Roncalli's anti-drug policies and program.
Concerned Persons Groups also meet at Roncalli to
offer extra peer support to students who have a friend or
family member using drugs or who may need a place to talk
and find assistance in confidence. The groups meet during
the school day on alternating schedules so that all may
have the option to attend.
Parents, too, are actively involved in the school
program. The Roncalli Parents Communication Network has
commitments from more than 60 percent of the Roncalli
parents to keep their homes drug-free and to be present
when students visit.
Schools
Setting Policy
Recommendation #5:
Establish clear and specific rules regarding alcohol
and other drug use that include strong corrective actions.
School policies should clearly establish that drug
use, possession, and sale on the school grounds and at
school functions will not be tolerated. These policies
should apply both to students and to school personnel, and
may include prevention, intervention, treatment, and
disciplinary measures.
School policies should have the following characteristics:
* Specify what constitutes a drug offense by defining
(1) illegal substances and paraphernalia; (2) the area
of the school's jurisdiction, for example, the school
property, its surroundings, and all school-related
events, such as proms and football games; and (3) the
types of violations (drug possession, use, and sale).
* State the consequences for violating school policy;
punitive action should be linked to referral for
treatment and counseling. Measures that schools have
found effective in dealing with first-time offenders
include the following:
-- A required meeting of parents and the student with
school officials, concluding with a contract signed
by the student and parents in which they both
acknowledge a drug problem and the student agrees
to stop using and to participate in drug counseling
or a rehabilitation program.
-- Suspension, assignment to an alternative school,
in-school suspension, after-school or Saturday
detention with close supervision, and demanding
academic assignments.
-- Referral to a drug treatment expert or counselor.
-- Notification of police.
Penalties for repeat offenders and for sellers may
include expulsion, legal action, and referral for
treatment.
* Describe procedures for handling violations, including
the following:
-- Legal issues associated with disciplinary actions
(confidentiality, due process, and search and seizure)
and their application.
-- Circumstances under which incidents should be reported
and the responsibilities and procedures for reporting
incidents, including the identification of the
authorities to be contacted.
-- Procedures for notifying parents when their child is
suspected of using drugs or is caught with drugs.
-- Procedures for notifying police.
* Enlist legal counsel to ensure that all policy is in
compliance with applicable Federal, State, and local laws.
* Build community support for the policy. Hold open meetings
where views can be aired and differences resolved.
Schools
Enforcing Policy
Recommendation #6:
Enforce established policies against alcohol and other
drug use fairly and consistently. Ensure adequate security
measures to eliminate drugs from school premises and school
functions.
Ensure that everyone understands the policy and the
procedures that will be followed in case of infractions. Make
copies of the school policy available to all parents, teachers,
and students, and publicize the policy throughout the school
and community.
Impose strict security measures to bar access to intruders
and to prohibit student drug trafficking. Enforcement policies
should correspond to the severity of the school's drug problem.
For example:
* Officials can require students to carry hall passes,
supervise school grounds and hallways, and secure
assistance of law enforcement officials, particularly to
help monitor areas around the school.
* For a severe drug problem, officials can use security
personnel to monitor closely all school areas where drug
sales and use are known to occur; issue mandatory
identification badges for school staff and students;
request the assistance of local police to help stop drug
dealing; and, depending on applicable law, develop a
policy that permits periodic searches of student lockers.
Review enforcement practices regularly to ensure that
penalties are uniformly and fairly applied.
* Consider implementing an alternative program for students
who have been suspended for drug use or possession. Some
districts have developed off-campus programs to enable
suspended students to continue their education in a more
tightly structured environment. These programs may be
offered during the day or in the evening, and may offer
counseling as well as an academic curriculum. Other
districts have successfully used a probationary
alternative that combined a short-term in-school
suspension with requirements for drug testing and
participation in support groups as a condition of
returning to the classroom.
Lawrenceville Middle School
Lawrenceville, Georgia
Ten years ago, Lawrenceville, Georgia, was a rural
community outside Atlanta. Today it is a full-fledged suburb,
and one of the nation's fastest-growing. Lawrenceville Middle
School, responding to rapid changes in the community, did not
wait for a crisis to begin thinking about the drug education
needs of its 1100 students. It conducted a survey in 1981 to
use as a benchmark to measure drug-free progress in subsequent
years and to help define an appropriate program--the first in
Gwinnett County--for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders.
The Lawrenceville program emphasizes five prevention
strategies: education, life and social skills, healthy
alternatives, risk factor reduction, and environmental change.
While annual surveys help the faculty and parents assess its
effectiveness, they are not the only way they measure
effectiveness. Regular informal assessments and day-today
faculty observation help to fine tune the program from year to
year and suggest any immediate changes required. A case in
point: when teachers began to observe an increase in tobacco
use, particularly smokeless tobacco use, they formed a
committee that included parents and administrators and came up
with a plan to include more information in the curriculum on
the harmful effects of tobacco and more up-to-date materials in
the media center. They also decided to implement a no-tobacco
use policy for the school staff. The following year, incidents
of student tobacco use decreased dramatically.
Parents, students, and teachers attribute much of
Lawrenceville's drug education success to its alternative
program, STRIDE, (Student/Teacher Resource Institute for Drug
Education), a unique concept that has captured the
attention--and drug-free pledges--of more than 80 percent of
Lawrenceville's students.
STRIDE's leadership team--composed of seventh-and
eighth-graders-meets during the summer to plan activities for
the upcoming year. A program featuring 10 to 12 major events is
outlined at the summer planning session. STRIDE leaders meet
regularly during the school year to implement the program and
delegate responsibilities. STRIDE events--held after school
from 2:00 to 5:00--are widely publicized by STRIDE members.
Events include programs by visiting athletes who qualify as
role models, dances, videos, plays, speakers from the
community, and special sports events.
Schools
Teaching About Drug Prevention
Recommendation # 7:
Implement a comprehensive drug prevention curriculum for
kindergarten through grade 12, teaching that drug use is wrong
and harmful, and supporting and strengthening resistance to
drugs.
A model program would have these main objectives:
* To value and maintain sound personal health.
* To respect laws and rules prohibiting drugs.
* To resist pressures to use drugs.
* To promote student activities that are drug free and offer
healthy avenues for student interests.
In developing a program, school staff should take the
following steps:
* Determine curriculum content appropriate for the school's
drug problem and grade levels.
* Base the curriculum on an understanding of why children
try drugs in order to teach them how to resist pressures
to use drugs.
* Review existing materials for possible adaptation. State
and national organizations--and some lending
libraries--that have an interest in drug prevention make
available lists of materials.
In implementing a program, school staff should take the
following steps:
* Include students in all grades. Effective drug education
is cumulative.
* Teach about drugs in health education classes, and
reinforce this curriculum with appropriate materials in
classes such as social studies and science.
* Develop expertise in drug prevention through training.
Teachers should be knowledgeable about drugs, personally
committed to opposing drug use, and skilled at eliciting
participation by students in drug prevention efforts.
(For more detailed information on topics and learning
activities to incorporate in a drug prevention program, see
pages 44-49.)
Fact Sheet
Tips for Selecting Drug Prevention Materials
In evaluating drug prevention materials, keep the
following points in mind:
Check the date of publication. Material published before
1980 may be outdated; even recently published materials may be
inaccurate.
Look for "warning flag" phrases and concepts. The
following expressions, many of which appear frequently in
"pro-drug" material, falsely imply that there is a "safe" use
of mind-altering drugs: experimental use, recreational use,
social use, controlled use, responsible use, use/abuse.
Mood-altering is a deceptive euphemism for mind-altering.
The implication of the phrase mood-altering is that only
temporary feelings are involved. The fact is that mood
changes are biological changes in the brain.
"There are no 'good' or 'bad' drugs, just improper use."
This is a popular semantic camouflage in pro-drug
literature. It confuses young people and minimizes the
distinct chemical differences among substances.
"The child's own decision."
Parents cannot afford to leave such hazardous choices to
their children. It is the parents' responsibility to do
all in their power to provide the information and the
protection to assure their children a drug-free childhood
and adolescence.
Be alert for contradictory messages. Many authors give a
pro-drug message and then cover their tracks by including
"cautions" about how to use drugs.
Make certain that the health consequences revealed in
current research are adequately described. Literature should
make these facts clear: The high potency of marijuana on the
market today makes it more dangerous than ever. THC, a
psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, is fat-soluble, and its
accumulation in the body has many adverse biological effects.
Cocaine can cause death and is one of the most addictive drugs
known. It takes less alcohol to produce impairment in youths
than in adults.
Demand material that sets positive standards of behavior
for children. The message conveyed must be an expectation that
children can say no to drugs. The publication and its message
must provide the information and must support family
involvement to reinforce the child's courage to stay drug free.
A fuller discussion of curriculum selection is offered in
Drug Prevention Curricula: A Guide to Selection and
Implementation. The guide is published by the U.S. Department
of Education and is available from the National Clearinghouse
for Alcohol and Drug Information, Box 2345 Rockville MD 20852.
Schools
Enlisting the Community's Help
Recommendation #8:
Reach out to the community for support and assistance in
making the school's anti-drug policy and program work. Develop
collaborative arrangements in which school personnel, parents,
school boards, law enforcement officers, treatment
organizations, and private groups can work together to provide
necessary resources.
School officials should recognize that they cannot solve
the drug problem by themselves. They need to enlist the
community's support for their efforts by taking the following
actions:
* Increase community understanding of the problem through
meetings, media coverage, and education programs.
* Build public support for the policy; develop agreement on
the goals of a school drug policy, including prevention
and enforcement goals.
* Educate the community about the effects and extent of the
drug problem.
* Strengthen contacts with law enforcement agencies through
discussions about the school's specific drug problems and
ways they can assist in drug education and enforcement.
* Call on local professionals, such as physicians and
pharmacists, to share their expertise on drug abuse as
class lecturers.
* Mobilize the resources of community groups and local
businesses to support the program.
Fact Sheet
Legal Questions on Search and Seizure
In 1985, the Supreme Court for the first time analyzed the
application in the public school setting of the Fourth
Amendment prohibition of unreasonable searches and seizures.
The Court sought to craft a rule that would balance the need of
school authorities to maintain order and the privacy rights of
students. The questions in this section summarize the decisions
of the Supreme Court and of lower Federal courts. School
officials should consult with legal counsel in formulating
their policies.
What legal standard applies to school officials who search
students and their possessions for drugs?
The Supreme Court has held that school officials may
institute a search if there are "reasonable grounds" to
believe that the search will reveal evidence that the
student has violated or is violating either the law or the
rules of the school.
Do school officials need a search warrant to conduct a search
for drugs?
No, not if they are carrying out the search independent of
the police and other law enforcement officials. A more
stringent legal standard may apply if law enforcement
officials are involved in the search.
How extensive can a search be?
The scope of the permissible search will depend on whether
the measures used during the search are reasonably related
to the purpose of the search and are not excessively
intrusive in light of the age and sex of the student being
searched. The more intrusive the search, the greater the
justification that will be required by the courts.
Do school officials have to stop a search when they find the
object of the search?
Not necessarily. If a search reveals items suggesting the
presence of other evidence of crime or misconduct, the
school official may continue the search. For example, if a
teacher is justifiably searching a student's purse for
cigarettes and finds rolling papers, it will be reasonable
(subject to any local policy to the contrary) for the
teacher to search the rest of the purse for evidence of
drugs.
Can school officials search student lockers?
Reasonable grounds to believe that a particular student
locker contains evidence of a violation of the law or
school rules will generally justify a search of that
locker. In addition, some courts have upheld written
school policies that authorize school officials to inspect
student lockers at any time.
(For a more detailed discussion of legal issues, see pages
50-60).
Fact Sheet
Legal Questions on Suspension and Expulsion
The following questions and answers briefly describe
several Federal requirements that apply to the use of
suspension and expulsion as disciplinary tools in public
schools. These may not reflect all laws, policies, and judicial
precedents applicable to any given school district. School
officials should consult with legal counsel to determine the
application of these laws in their schools and to ensure
compliance with all legal requirements.
What Federal procedural requirements apply to suspension or
expulsion?
* The Supreme Court has held that students facing suspension
or expulsion from school are entitled under the U.S.
Constitution to the basic due process protections of
notice and an opportunity to be heard. The nature and
formality of the "hearing" to be provided depend on the
severity of the sanction being imposed.
* A formal hearing is not required when a school seeks to
suspend a student for 10 days or less. Due process in that
situation requires only that:
-- the school inform the student, either orally or in
writing, of the charges and of the evidence to support
those charges.
-- the school give the student an opportunity to deny the
charges and present his or her side of the story.
-- as a general rule, the notice to the student and a
rudimentary hearing should precede a suspension unless
a student's presence poses a continuing danger to
persons or property or threatens to disrupt the
academic process. In such cases, the notice and
rudimentary hearing should follow as soon as possible
after the student's removal.
More formal procedures may be required for suspensions
longer than 10 days and for expulsions. In addition, Federal
law and regulations establish special rules governing
suspensions and expulsions of students with disabilities.
* States and local school districts may require additional
procedures.
Can students be suspended or expelled from school for use,
possession, or sale of drugs?
Generally, yes. A school may suspend or expel students in
accordance with the terms of its discipline policy. A
school policy may provide for penalties of varying
severity, including suspension or expulsion, to respond to
drug-related offenses. It is helpful to be explicit about
the types of offenses that will be punished and about the
penalties that may be imposed for particular types of
offenses (e.g., use, possession, or sale of drugs).
Generally, State and local law will determine the range of
sanctions permitted.
(For a more detailed discussion of legal issues, see pages
50-60.)
WHAT STUDENTS CAN DO
* Learn about the effects of drug use, the reasons why drugs
are harmful, and ways to resist pressures to try drugs.
* Use an understanding of the danger posed by drugs to help
other students avoid them. Encourage other students to
resist drugs, persuade those using drugs to seek help, and
report those selling drugs to parents and the school
principal.
Students
Learning the Facts
Recommendation #9:
Learn about the effects of alcohol and other drug use, the
reasons why drugs are harmful, and ways to resist pressures to
try drugs. Students can arm themselves with the knowledge to
resist drug use in the following ways:
* Learning about the effects and risks of drugs.
* Learning the symptoms of drug use and the names of
organizations and individuals available to help when
friends or family members are in trouble.
* Understanding the pressures to use drugs and ways to
counteract
* Knowing the school rules on drugs and ways to help make
the school policy work.
* Knowing the school procedures for reporting drug offenses.
* Knowing the laws on drug use and the penalties--for
example, for driving under the influence of alcohol or
other drugs--and understanding how the laws protect
individuals and society.
* Developing skill in communicating their opposition to
drugs and their resolve to avoid drug use.
R.H. Watkins High School of Jones County, Mississippi, has
developed this pledge setting forth the duties and
responsibilities of student counselors in its peer
counseling program.
Responsibility Pledge for a Peer Counselor
R.H. Watkins High School
As a drug education peer counselor you have the
opportunity to help the youth of our community develop to their
full potential without the interference of illegal drug use. It
is a responsibility you must not take lightly. Therefore,
please read the following responsibilities you will be expected
to fulfill next school year and discuss them with your parents
or guardians.
Responsibilities of a Peer Counselor
* Understand and be able to clearly state your beliefs and
attitudes about drug use among teens and adults.
* Remain drug free.
* Maintain an average of C or better in all classes.
* Maintain a citizenship average of B or better.
* Participate in some club or extracurricular activity that
emphasizes the positive side of school life.
* Successfully complete training for the program, including,
for example, units on the identification and symptoms of
drug abuse, history and reasons for drug abuse, and the
legal/economic aspects of drug abuse.
* Successfully present monthly programs on drug abuse in
each of the elementary and junior high schools of the
Laurel City school system, and to community groups,
churches, and statewide groups as needed.
* Participate in rap sessions or individual counseling
sessions with Laurel City school students.
* Attend at least one Jones County Drug Council meeting per
year, attend the annual Drug Council Awards Banquet, work
in the Drug Council Fair exhibit and in any Drug Council
workshops, if needed.
* Grades and credit for Drug Education will be awarded on
successful completion of and participation in all the
above-stated activities.
________________________ ____________________________
Student's Signature Parent's or Guardian's Signature
Students
Helping to Fight Drug Use
Recommendation # 10:
Use an understanding of the danger posed by alcohol and
other drugs to help other students avoid them. Encourage other
students to resist drugs, persuade those using drugs to seek
help, and report those selling drugs to parents and the school
principal.
Although students are the primary victims of drug use in
the schools, drug use cannot be stopped or prevented unless
students actively participate in this effort.
Students can help fight alcohol and other drug use in the
following ways:
* Participating in discussions about the extent of the
problem at their own school.
* Supporting a strong school anti-drug policy and firm,
consistent enforcement of rules.
* Setting a positive example for fellow students and
speaking forcefully against drug use.
* Teaching other students, particularly younger ones, about
the harmful effects of drugs.
* Encouraging their parents to join with other parents to
promote a drug-free environment outside school. Some
successful parent groups have been started as a result of
the pressure of a son or daughter was concerned about
drugs.
* Becoming actively involved in efforts to inform the
community about the drug problem.
* Joining in or starting a club or other activity to create
positive, challenging ways for young people to have fun
without alcohol and other drugs. Obtaining adult
sponsorship for the group and publicizing its activities.
* Encouraging friends who have a drug problem to seek help
and reporting persons selling drugs to parents and the
principal.
WHAT COMMUNITIES CAN DO
* Help schools fight drugs by providing them with the
expertise and financial resources of community groups and
agencies.
* Involve local law enforcement agencies in all aspects of
drug prevention: assessment, enforcement, and education.
The police and courts should have well-established
relationships with the schools.
Communities
Providing Support
Recommendation # 11:
Help schools fight drugs by providing them with the
expertise and financial resources of community groups and
agencies.
Law enforcement agencies and the courts can take the
following actions:
* Provide volunteers to speak in the schools about the legal
ramifications of alcohol and other drug use. Officers can
encourage students to cooperate with them to stop drug
use.
* Meet with school officials to discuss alcohol and other
drug use in the school, share information on the drug
problem outside the school, and help school officials in
their investigations.
Social service and health agencies can take the following
actions:
* Provide volunteers to speak in the school about the
effects of drugs.
* Meet with parents to discuss symptoms of drug use and to
inform them about counseling resources.
* Provide the schools with health professionals to evaluate
students who may be potential drug users.
* Provide referrals to local treatment programs for students
who are using drugs.
* Establish and conduct drug counseling and support groups
for students.
Business leaders can take the following actions:
* Speak in the schools about the effects of alcohol and
other drug use on employment.
* Provide incentives for students who participate in drug
prevention programs and lead drug-free lives.
* Help schools obtain curriculum materials for their drug
prevention program.
* Sponsor drug-free activities for young people.
Parent groups can take the following actions:
* Mobilize others through informal discussions, door-to-door
canvassing, and school meetings to ensure that students
get a consistent no-drug message at home, at school, and
in the community.
* Contribute volunteers to chaperone student parties and
other activities.
Print and broadcast media can take the following actions:
* Educate the community about the nature of the drug problem
in their schools.
* Publicize school efforts to combat the problem.
Project DARE
Los Angeles, California
A collaborative effort begun in 1983 by the Los Angeles
Police Department and the Los Angeles Unified School District,
Project DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) uses uniformed
law enforcement officers in classrooms as regular instructors.
DARE officers use a drug curriculum that teaches students
resistance to peer pressure to use drugs, self-management
skills, and alternatives to drug use.
DARE reaches all Los Angeles Unified School District
students from kindergarten through junior high school. DARE has
also spread outside Los Angeles--police officers from 48 States
and 1100 police agencies have received DARE training. The DARE
program is also being used by the Department of Defense
Dependents' Schools (military police serve as instructors) and
at Bureau of Indian Affairs Schools (BIA police officers serve
as instructors).
In addition to providing classroom instruction, the
program arranges teacher orientation, officer-student
interaction (on playgrounds and in cafeterias, for example),
and a parent education evening at which DARE officers explain
the program to parents and provide information about symptoms
of drug use and ways to increase family communication.
Studies have shown that DARE has improved students'
attitudes about themselves, increased their sense of
responsibility for themselves and to police, and strengthened
their resistance to drugs. For example, before the DARE program
began, 51 percent of fifth grade students equated drug use with
having more friends. After training, only 8 percent reported
this attitude.
DARE's parent program has also changed attitudes. Before
DARE training, 61 percent of parents thought that there was
nothing parents could do about their children's use of drugs;
only 5 percent reported this opinion after the program. Before
DARE training, 32 percent of parents thought that it was all
right for children to drink alcohol at a party as long as
adults were present. After DARE, no parents reported such a
view.
Communities
Involving Law Enforcement
Recommendation # 12:
Involve local law enforcement agencies in all aspects of
drug prevention: assessment, enforcement, and education. The
police and courts should have well-established relationships
with the schools.
Community groups can take the following actions:
* Support school officials who take a strong position
against alcohol and other drug use.
* Support State and local policies to keep drugs and drug
paraphernalia away from schoolchildren.
* Build a community consensus in favor of strong penalties
for persons convicted of selling drugs, particularly for
adults who have sold drugs to children.
* Encourage programs to provide treatment to juvenile
first-offenders while maintaining tough penalties for
repeat offenders and drug sellers.
Law enforcement agencies, in cooperation with schools, can
take the following actions:
* Establish the procedures each will follow in school drug
cases.
* Provide expert personnel to participate in prevention
activities from kindergarten through grade 12.
* Secure areas around schools and see that the sale and use
of drugs are stopped.
* Provide advice and personnel to help improve security in
the school or on school premises.
Lincoln Junior High
Washington, D.C.
Abraham Lincoln Junior High is a modern school located in
an innercity neighborhood. Its ethnically diverse student body
has 700 students, representing more than 30 counties. The
student population is 51 percent black and 43 percent Hispanic.
Many of the students coming to Lincoln for the first time are
newly arrived immigrants from war-torn countries.
Many of these newly arrived students are eager for
acceptance by their new peers and just as eager to adjust to
American culture. Teachers are keenly aware of the students'
desire to fit in and realize that it is important to let these
children know that the majority of American children do not use
drugs nor is drug use an accepted behavior. This is not an easy
task for the teachers to accomplish since the rampant drug
activity going on in their neighborhood may suggest otherwise.
Lincoln's faculty-sponsored clubs are an important way
teachers support what they want the drug education program to
accomplish. To participate in any club, members must pledge to
be drug free. Two clubs are designed to develop confidence and
reinforce social and citizenship skills. Other clubs target
special interests such as the Lincoln Chess Club and LatiNegro,
a student arts group. A summer Substance Abuse Prevention
Education Camp involves nearly 100 students in activities
ranging from volley ball to dance to field trips.
The staff also encourages students to help each other. The
Peer Helper Club, whose members are trained in substance abuse
prevention and leadership skills, publishes a handbook
dispensing advice and a magazine, Cuidando Nuestra Juventud
(Taking Care of Our Youth), to which the entire student body
can contribute.
Another innovative way the school gets its message across
is by having the Student Response Team (SRT). This team is
comprised of ninth graders trained to become mediators. They
advertise their services within the school and get referrals
from students and teachers. Students who use the services of
the SRT must agree in advance to abide by the result of the
mediation process or be expelled from school. Mediators meet
with students in conflict at lunch or are called from class if
the matter is urgent. This multiracial team has been effective
in reducing violence and convincing peers that they don't have
to go to the streets to settle disputes.
CONCLUSION
Drugs threaten our children's lives, disrupt our schools,
shatter families, and, in some areas, shatter communities.
Drug-related crimes overwhelm our courts, social agencies, and
police. This situation need not and must not continue.
Across the United States, schools and communities have
found ways to turn the tide in the battle against drugs. The
methods they have used and the actions they have taken are
described in this volume. We know what works. We know that drug
use can be stopped.
But we cannot expect the schools to do the job without the
help of parents, police, the courts, and other community
groups. Drugs will be beaten only when all of us work together
to deliver a firm, consistent message to those who would use or
sell drugs: a message that illegal drugs will not be tolerated.
It is time to join in a national effort to achieve schools
without drugs.
SPECIAL SECTIONS
Teaching About Drug Prevention
How the Law Can Help
Specific Drugs and Their Effects
Sources of Information
References
TEACHING ABOUT DRUG PREVENTION
Teaching About Drug Prevention: Sample Topics and Learning
Activities
An effective drug prevention curriculum covers a broad set
of education objectives which are outlined in greater detail in
the Department of Education's handbook Drug Prevention
Curricula: A Guide to Selection and Implementation. This
section presents a model program for consideration by State and
local school authorities who have the responsibility to design
a curriculum that meets local needs and priorities. The program
consists of four objectives plus sample topics and learning
activities.
OBJECTIVE #1: To value and maintain sound personal health; to
understand how drugs affect health.
An effective drug prevention education program instills
respect for a healthy body and mind and imparts knowledge of
how the body functions, how personal habits contribute to good
health, and how drugs affect the body.
At the early elementary level, children learn how to care
for their bodies. Knowledge about habits, medicine, and poisons
lays the foundation for learning about drugs. Older children
begin to learn about the drug problem and study those drugs to
which they are most likely to be exposed. The curriculum for
secondary school students is increasingly drug specific as
students learn about the effects of drugs on their bodies and
on adolescent maturation. Health consequences of drug use,
including transmission of AIDS, are emphasized.
Sample topics for elementary school:
* The roles of nutrition, medicine, and health care
professionals in preventing and treating disease.
* The difficulties of recognizing which substances are safe
to eat, drink, or touch; ways to learn whether a substance
is safe: by consulting with an adult and by reading
labels.
* The effects of poisons on the body; the effects of
medicine on body chemistry: the wrong drug may make a
person ill.
* The nature of habits: their conscious and unconscious
development.
Sample topics for secondary school:
* Stress: how the body responds to stress; how drugs
increase stress.
* The chemical properties of drugs.
* The effects of drugs on the circulatory, digestive,
nervous, reproductive, and respiratory systems. The
effects of drugs on adolescent development.
* Patterns of substance abuse: the progressive effects of
drugs on the body and mind.
* What is addiction?
* How to get help for a drug or alcohol problem.
Children tend to be oriented toward the present and are
likely to feel invulnerable to the long-term effects of alcohol
and other drugs. For this reason, they should be taught about
the short-term effects of drug use (impact on appearance,
alertness, and coordination) as well as about the cumulative
effects.
Sample learning activities for elementary school:
* Make a coloring book depicting various substances. Color
only those items that are safe to eat.
* Use puppets to dramatize what can happen when drugs are
used.
* Write stories about what to do if a stranger offers candy,
pills, or a ride. Discuss options in class.
* Try, for a time, to break a bad habit. The teacher
emphasizes that it is easier not to start a bad habit than
to break one.
Sample learning activities for secondary school:
* Discuss the properties of alcohol and other drugs with
community experts: physicians, scientists, pharmacists, or
law enforcement officers.
* Interview social workers in drug treatment centers. Visit
an open meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics
Anonymous. These activities should be open only to mature
students; careful preparation and debriefing are
essential.
* Research the drug problem at school, in the community, or
in the sports and entertainment fields.
* Design a true-false survey about drug myths and facts;
conduct the survey with classmates and analyze the
results.
* Develop an accessible lending library on drugs, well
stocked with up-to-date and carefully chosen materials.
When an expert visits a class, both the class and the
expert should be prepared in advance. Students should learn
about the expert's profession and prepare questions to ask
during the visit. The expert should know what the objectives of
the session are and how the session fits into previous and
subsequent learning. The expert should participate in a
discussion or classroom activity, not simply appear as a
speaker.
OBJECTIVE #2: To respect laws and rules prohibiting drugs.
The program teaches children to respect rules and laws as
the embodiment of social values and as tools for protecting
individuals and society. It provides specific instruction about
laws concerning drugs.
Students in the early grades learn to identify rules and
to understand their importance, while older students learn
about the school drug code and laws regulating drugs.
Sample topics for elementary school:
* What rules are and what would happen without them.
* What values are and why they should guide behavior.
* What responsible behavior is.
* Why it is wrong to take drugs.
Sample topics for secondary school:
* Student responsibilities in promoting a drug-free school.
* Local, State, and Federal laws on controlled substances;
why these laws exist and how they are enforced.
* Legal consequences of drug use; penalties for driving
under the influence of alcohol or drugs; the relationship
between drugs and other crimes.
* Personal and societal costs of drug use.
Sample learning activities for elementary school:
* Use stories and pictures to identify rules and laws in
everyday life (e.g., lining up for recess).
* Imagine how to get to school in the absence of traffic
laws; try to play a game that has no rules.
* Name some things that are important to adults and then
list rules they have made about these things. (This
activity helps explain values.)
* Solve a simple problem (e.g., my sister hits me, or my
math grades are low). Discuss which solutions are best and
why.
* Discuss school drug policies with the principal and other
staff members. Learn how students can help make the policy
work better.
* Explain the connection between drug users, drug dealers,
and drug traffickers and law enforcement officers whose
lives are placed at risk or lost in their efforts to stop
the drug trade.
Sample learning activities for secondary school:
* Resolve hypothetical school situations involving drug use.
Analyze the consequences for the school, other students,
and the individuals involved.
* Collect information about accidents, crimes, and other
problems related to alcohol and other drugs. Analyze how
the problem might have been prevented and how the incident
affected the individuals involved.
* Conduct research projects. Interview members of the
community such as attorneys, judges, police officers,
State highway patrol officers, and insurance agents about
the effects of alcohol and other drug use on the daily
lives of teenagers and their families.
* Draft a legislative petition proposing enactment of a
State law on drug use. Participate in a mock trial or
legislative session patterned after an actual trial or
debate. Through these activities, students learn to
develop arguments on behalf of drug laws and their
enforcement.
OBJECTIVE #3: To recognize and resist pressures to use drugs.
Social influences play a key role in encouraging children
to try alcohol and other drugs. Pressures to use drugs come
from internal sources, such as a child's desire to feel
included in a group or to demonstrate independence, and
external influences, such as the opinions and example of
friends, older children and adults, and media messages.
Students must learn to identify these pressures. They must
then learn how to counteract messages to use drugs and gain
practice in saying no. The education program emphasizes
influences on behavior, responsible decision making, and
techniques for resisting pressures to use drugs.
Sample topics for elementary through high school:
* The influence of popular culture on behavior.
* The influence of peers, parents, and other important
individuals on a student's behavior; ways in which the
need to feel accepted by others influences behavior.
* Ways to make responsible decisions and to deal
constructively with disagreeable moments and pressures.
* Reasons for not taking drugs.
* Situations in which students may be pressured into using
alcohol and other drugs.
* Ways of resisting pressure to use drugs.
* Effects of drug use on family and friends, and benefits of
resisting pressure to use drugs.
Sample learning activities for elementary through high
school:
* Describe recent personal decisions. In small groups,
discuss what considerations influenced the decision (e.g.,
opinions of family or friends, beliefs, desire to be
popular) and analyze choices and consequences.
* Examine ads for cigarettes, over-the-counter drugs, and
alcohol, deciding what images are being projected and
whether the ads are accurate.
* Read stories about famous people who held to their beliefs
in the face of opposition. Students can discuss how these
people withstood the pressure and what they accomplished.
* Give reasons for not taking drugs. Discuss with a health
educator or drug counselor the false arguments for using
drugs. Develop counterarguments in response to typical
messages or pressures on behalf of drug use.
* Given a scenario depicting pressure to use drugs, act out
ways of resisting (simply refusing, giving a reason,
leaving the scene, etc.). Students should then practice
these techniques repeatedly. Demonstrate ways of resisting
pressures, using older students specially trained as peer
teachers.
* Present scenarios involving drug-related problems (e.g.,
learning that another student is selling drugs, learning
that a sibling is using drugs, or being offered a drive
home by a friend under the influence of drugs). Students
practice what they would do and discuss to whom they would
turn for help. Teachers should discuss and evaluate the
appropriateness of student responses.
* Discuss how it feels to resist pressures to take drugs.
Hold a poster contest to depict the benefits derived both
from not using and from saying no (e.g., being in control,
increased respect from others, self-confidence).
OBJECTIVE #4: To promote activities that reinforce the
positive, drug-free elements of student life.
School activities that provide opportunities for students
to have fun without alcohol and other drugs, and to contribute
to the school community, build momentum for peer pressure not
to use drugs. These school activities also nurture positive
examples by giving older students opportunities for leadership
related to drug prevention.
Sample activities:
* Make participation in school activities dependent on an
agreement not to use alcohol and other drugs.
* Ensure that alcohol and other drugs will not be available
at school-sponsored activities or parties. Plan these
events carefully to be certain that students have
attractive alternatives to drug use.
* Give students opportunities for leadership. They can be
trained to serve as peer leaders in drug prevention
programs, write plays, or design posters for younger
students. Activities such as these provide youthful role
models who demonstrate the importance of not using drugs.
Youth training programs are available that prepare
students to assist in drug education and provide
information on how to form drug-free youth groups.
* Form action teams for school improvement with membership
limited to students who are drug free. These action teams
campaign against drug use, design special drug-free
events, conduct and follow up on surveys of school needs,
help teachers with paperwork, tutor other students, or
improve the appearance of the school. Through these
activities, students develop a stake in their school, have
the opportunity to serve others, and have positive reasons
to reject drug use.
* Survey community resources that offer help for alcohol or
other drug problems or ways to cope with drug use by a
family member.
* Create a program in the school for support of students
returning from treatment.
HOW THE LAW CAN HELP
Federal law accords school officials broad authority to
regulate student conduct and supports reasonable and fair
disciplinary action. In 1984, the Supreme Court reaffirmed that
the constitutional rights of students in school are not
"automatically coextensive with the rights of adults in other
settings."1 Rather, recognizing that "in recent years . .. drug
use and violent crime in the schools have become major social
problems," the Court has emphasized the importance of effective
enforcement of school rules.2 On the whole, a school "is
allowed to determine the methods of student discipline and need
not exercise its discretion with undue timidity."3
An effective campaign against drug use requires a basic
understanding of legal techniques for searching and seizing
drugs and drug-related material, for suspending and expelling
students involved with drugs, and for assisting law enforcement
officials in the prosecution of drug offenders. Such knowledge
will help schools identify and penalize students who use or
sell drugs at school and enable school officials to uncover the
evidence needed to support prosecutions under Federal and State
criminal laws that contain strong penalties for drug use and
sale. In many cases, school officials can be instrumental in
successful prosecutions.
In addition to the general Federal statutes that make it a
crime to possess or distribute a controlled substance, there
are special Federal laws designed to protect children and
schools from drugs:
* An important part of the Controlled Substances Act makes
it a Federal crime to sell drugs in or near a public or
private elementary, secondary, vocational, or
postsecondary school. Under this "schoolhouse" law, sales
within 1,000 feet of a school are punishable by up to
double the sentence that would apply if the sale occurred
elsewhere. Even more serious punishments are available for
repeat offenders.4
* Distribution or sale to minors of controlled substances is
also a Federal crime. When anyone age 18 or over sells
drugs to anyone under 21, the seller runs the risk that he
or she will receive up to double the sentence that would
apply to a sale to an adult. Here too, more serious
penalties can be imposed on repeat offenders.5
By working with Federal and State prosecutors in their
area, schools can help to ensure that these laws and others
are used to make children and schools off-limits to drugs.
The following pages describe in general terms the Federal
laws applicable to the development of an effective school
drug policy. This section is not a compendium of all laws
that may apply to a school district, and it is not intended
to provide legal advice on all issues that may arise.
School officials must recognize that many legal issues in
the school context are also governed, in whole or in part,
by State and local laws, which, given their diversity,
cannot be covered here. Advice should be sought from legal
counsel in order to understand the applicable laws and to
ensure that the school's policies and actions make full
use of the available methods of enforcement.
Most private schools, particularly those that receive
little or no financial assistance from public sources and
are not associated with a public entity, enjoy a greater
degree of legal flexibility with respect to combating the
sale and use of illegal drugs. Depending on the terms of
their contracts with enrolled students, such schools may
be largely free of the restrictions that normally apply to
drug searches or the suspension or expulsion of student
drug users. Private school officials should consul legal
counsel to determine what enforcement measures may be
available to them.
School procedures should reflect the available legal means
for combating drug use. These procedures should be known to
and understood by school administrators and teachers as
well as by students, parents, and law enforcement
officials. Everyone should be aware that school authorities
have broad power within the law to take full, appropriate,
and effective action against drug offenders. Additional
sources of information on legal issues in school drug
policy are listed at the end of this handbook.
SEARCHING FOR DRUGS WITHIN THE SCHOOL
In some circumstances, the most important tool for
controlling drug use is an effective program of drug searches.
School administrators should not condone the presence of drugs
anywhere on school property. The presence of any drugs or
drug-related materials in school can mean only one thing--that
drugs are being used or distributed in school. Schools
committed to fighting drugs should do everything they can to
determine whether school grounds are being used to facilitate
the possession, use, or distribution of drugs, and to prevent
such crimes.
To institute an effective drug search policy in schools
with a substantial problem, school officials can take several
steps. First, they can identify the specific areas in the
school where drugs are likely to be found or used. Student
lockers, bathrooms, and "smoking areas" are obvious candidates.
Second, school administrators can clearly announce in writing
at the beginning of the school year that these areas will be
subject to unannounced searches and that students should
consider such areas "public" rather than "private." The more
clearly a school specifies, that these portions of the school's
property are public, the less likely it is that a court will
conclude that students retain any reasonable expectation of
privacy in these places and the less justification will be
needed to search such locations.
School officials should therefore formulate and
disseminate to all students and staff a written policy that
will permit an effective program of drug searches. Courts have
usually upheld locker searches where schools have established
written policies under which the school retains joint control
over student lockers, maintains duplicate or master keys for
all lockers, and reserves the right to inspect lockers at any
time.6 Although these practices have not become established law
in every part of the country, it will be easier to justify
locker searches in schools that have such policies. Moreover,
the mere existence of such policies can have a salutory effect.
If students know that their lockers may be searched, drug users
will find it much more difficult to obtain drugs in school.
The effectiveness of such searches may be improved with
the use of specially trained dogs. Courts have generally held
that the use of dogs to detect drugs on or in objects such as
lockers, ventilators, or desk, as opposed to persons is not a
"search" within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment.7
Accordingly, school administrators are generally justified in
using dogs in this way.
It is important to remember that any illicit drugs and
drug-related items discovered at school are evidence that may
be used in a criminal trial. School officials should be
careful, first, to protect the evidentiary integrity of such
seizures by making sure that the items are obtained in
permissible searches, because unlawfully acquired evidence will
not be admissible in criminal proceedings. Second, school
officials should work closely with local law enforcement
officials to preserve, in writing, the nature and circumstances
of any seizure of drug contraband. In a criminal prosecution,
the State must prove that the items produced as evidence in
court are the same items that were seized from the suspect.
Thus, the State must establish a "chain of custody" over the
seized items which accounts for the possession of the evidence
from the moment of its seizure to the moment it is introduced
in court. School policy regarding the disposition of
drug-related items should include procedures for the custody
and safekeeping of drugs and drug-related materials prior to
their removal by the police and procedures for recording the
circumstances regarding the seizure.
Searching Students
In some circumstances, teachers or other school personnel
will wish to search a student whom they believe to be in
possession of drugs. The Supreme Court has stated that searches
may be carried out according to "the dictates of reason and
common sense."8 The Court has recognized that the need of
school authorities to maintain order justifies searches that
might otherwise be unreasonable if undertaken by police
officers or in the larger community. Thus the Court has held
that school officials, unlike the police, do not need "probable
cause" to conduct a search. Nor do they need a search warrant.9
Under the Supreme Court's ruling:
* School officials may institute a search if there are
"reasonable grounds" to believe that the search will
reveal evidence that the student has violated or is
violating either the law or the rules of the school.
* The extent of the permissible search will depend on
whether the measures used are reasonably related to the
purpose of the search and are not excessively intrusive in
light of the age and sex of the student.
* School officials are not required to obtain search
warrants when they carry out searches independent of the
police and other law enforcement officials. A more
stringent legal standard may apply if law enforcement
officials are involved in the search.
Interpretation of "Reasonable Grounds"
Lower courts are beginning to interpret and apply the
"reasonable grounds" standard in the school setting. From these
cases it appears that courts will require more than general
suspicion, curiosity, rumor, or a hunch to justify searching
students or their possessions. Factors that will help sustain a
search include the observation of specific and describable
behavior or activities leading one reasonably to believe that a
given student is engaging in or has engaged in prohibited
conduct. The more specific the evidence in support of searching
a particular student, the more likely the search will be
upheld. For example, courts using a "reasonable grounds" (or
similar) standard have upheld the right of school officials to
search the following:
* A student's purse, after a teacher saw her smoking in a
restroom and the student denied having smoked or being a
smoker.10
* A student's purse, after several other students said that
she had been distributing firecrackers.11
* A student's pockets, based on a phone tip about drugs from
an anonymous source believed to have previously provided
accurate information.12
Scope of Permissible Search
School officials are authorized to conduct searches within
reasonable limits. The Supreme Court has described two aspects
of these limits. First, when officials conduct a search, they
must use only measures that are reasonably related to the
purpose of the search; second, the search may not be
excessively intrusive in light of the age or sex of the
student.
For example, if a teacher believes he or she has seen one
student passing a marijuana cigarette to another student, the
teacher might reasonably search the students and any nearby
belongings in which the students might have tried to hide the
drug. If it turns out that what the teacher saw was a stick of
gum, the teacher would have no justification for any further
search for drugs.
The more intrusive the search, the greater the
justification that will be required by the courts. A search of
a student's jacket or bookbag can often be justified as
reasonable. At the other end of the spectrum, strip searches
are considered a highly intrusive invasion of individual
privacy and are viewed with disfavor by the courts (although
even these searches have been upheld in certain extraordinary
circumstances).
School officials do not necessarily have to stop a search
if they find what they are looking for. If the search of a
student reveals items that create reasonable grounds for
suspecting that the student may also possess other evidence of
crime or misconduct, the school officials may continue the
search. For example, if a teacher justifiably searches a
student's purse for cigarettes and finds rolling papers like
those used for marijuana cigarettes, it will then be reasonable
for the teacher to search the rest of the purse for other
evidence of drugs.
Consent
If a student consents to a search, the search is
permissible, regardless of whether there would otherwise be
reasonable grounds for the search. To render such a search
valid, however, the student must give consent knowingly and
voluntarily.
Establishing whether the student's consent was voluntary
can be difficult, and the burden is on the school officials to
prove voluntary consent. If a student agrees to be searched out
of fear or as a result of other coercion, that consent will
probably be found invalid. Similarly, if school officials
indicate that a student must agree to a search or if the
student is very young or otherwise unaware that he or she has
the right to object, the student's consent will also be held
invalid. School officials may find it helpful to explain to
students that they do not have to consent to a search. In some
cases, standard consent forms may be useful.
If a student is asked to consent to a search and refuses,
that refusal does not mean that the search may not be
conducted. Rather, in the absence of consent, school officials
retain the authority to conduct a search when there are
reasonable grounds to justify it, as described previously.
Special Types of Student Searches
Schools with severe drug problems may occasionally wish to
resort to more intrusive searches, such as the use of trained
dogs or urinalysis, to screen students for drug use. The
Supreme Court has yet to address these issues. The following
paragraphs explain the existing rulings on these subjects by
other courts:
* Specially trained dogs. The few courts that have
considered this issue disagree as to whether the use of a
specially trained dog to detect drugs on students
constitutes a search within the meaning of the Fourth
Amendment. Some courts have held that a dog's sniffing of
a student is a search, and that, in the school setting,
individualized grounds for reasonable suspicion are
required in order for such a "sniff-search" to be held
constitutional.13 Under this standard, a blanket search of
a school's entire student population by specially trained
dogs would be prohibited.
At least one other court has held that the use of trained
dogs does not constitute a search, and has permitted the
use of such dogs without individualized grounds for
suspicion.14 Another factor that courts may consider is
the way that the dogs detect the presence of drugs. In
some instances, the dogs are merely led down hallways or
classroom aisles. In contrast, having the dogs actually
touch parts of the students' bodies is more intrusive and
would probably require specific justification.
Courts have generally held that the use of specially
trained dogs to detect drugs on objects, as opposed to
persons, is not a search within the meaning of the Fourth
Amendment. Therefore, school officials may often be able
to use dogs to inspect student lockers and school
property.15
* Drug testing. The use of urinalysis or other tests to
screen students for drugs is a relatively new phenomenon
and the law in this area is still evolving. Few courts
have considered the use of urinalysis to screen public
school students for drugs, and those courts that have done
so have reached mixed results.16 The permissibility of
drug testing of students has not yet been determined under
all circumstances, although drug testing of adults has
been upheld in some settings.
SUSPENSION AND EXPULSION
A school policy may lawfully provide for penalties of
varying severity, including suspension and expulsion, to
respond to drug-related offenses. The Supreme Court has held
that because schools "need to be able to impose disciplinary
sanctions for a wide range of unanticipated conduct disruptive
of the educational process," a school's disciplinary rules need
not be so detailed as a criminal code.17 Nonetheless, it is
helpful for school policies to be explicit about the types of
offenses that will be punished and about the penalties that may
be imposed for each of these (e.g., use, possession, or sale of
drugs). State and local law will usually determine the range of
sanctions that is permissible. In general, courts will require
only that the penalty imposed for drug-related misconduct be
rationally related to the severity of the offense.
School officials should not forget that they have
jurisdiction to impose punishment for some drug-related
offenses that occur off-campus. Depending on State and local
laws, schools are often able to punish conduct at off-campus,
school-sponsored events as well as off-campus conduct that has
a direct and immediate effect on school activities.
Procedural Guidelines
Students facing suspension or expulsion from school are
entitled under the U.S. Constitution and most State
constitutions to commonsense due process protections of notice
and an opportunity to be heard. Because the Supreme Court has
recognized that a school's ability to maintain order would be
impeded if formal procedures were required every time school
authorities sought to discipline a student, the Court has held
that the nature and formality of the "hearing" will depend on
the severity of the sanction being imposed.
A formal hearing is not required when a school seeks to
suspend a student for 10 days or less.18 The Supreme Court has
held that due process in that situation requires only that:
* The school must inform the student, either orally or in
writing, of the charges against him or her and of the
evidence to support those charges.
* The school must give the student an opportunity to deny
the charges and present his or her side of the story.
* As a general rule, this notice and rudimentary hearing
should precede a suspension. However, a student whose
presence poses a continuing danger to persons or property
or an ongoing threat of disrupting the academic process
may be immediately removed from school. In such a
situation, the notice and rudimentary hearing should
follow as soon as possible.
The Supreme Court has also stated that more formal
procedures may be required for suspensions longer than 10 days
and for expulsions. Although the Court has not established
specific procedures to be followed in those situations, other
Federal courts have set the following guidelines for
expulsions.19 These guidelines would apply to suspensions
longer than 10 days as well:
* The student must be notified in writing of the specific
charges against him or her which, if proven, would justify
expulsion.
* The student should be given the names of the witnesses
against him or her and an oral or written report on the
facts to which each witness will testify.
* The student should be given the opportunity to present a
defense against the charges and to produce witnesses or
testimony on his or her behalf.
Many States have laws governing the procedures required
for suspensions and expulsions. Because applicable statutes and
judicial rulings vary across the country, local school
districts may enjoy a greater or lesser degree of flexibility
in establishing procedures for suspensions and expulsions.
School officials must also be aware of the special
procedures that apply to suspension or expulsion of students
with disabilities under Federal law and regulations.20
Effect of Criminal Proceedings Against a Student
A school may usually pursue disciplinary action against a
student regardless of the status of any outside criminal
prosecution. That is, Federal law does not require the school
to await the outcome of the criminal prosecution before
initiating proceedings to suspend or expel a student or to
impose whatever other penalty is appropriate for the violation
of the school's rules. In addition, a school is generally free
under Federal law to discipline a student when there is
evidence that the student has violated a school rule, even if a
juvenile court has acquitted (or convicted) the student or if
local authorities have declined to prosecute criminal charges
stemming from the same incident. Schools may wish to discuss
this subject with counsel.
Effect of Expulsion
State and local law will determine the effect of expelling
a student from school. Some State laws require the provision of
alternative schooling for students below a certain age. In
other areas, expulsion may mean the removal from public schools
for the balance of the school year or even the permanent denial
of access to the public school system.
CONFIDENTIALITY OF EDUCATION RECORDS
To rid their schools of drugs, school officials will
periodically need to report drug-related crimes to police and
to help local law enforcement authorities detect and prosecute
drug offenders. In doing so, schools will need to take steps to
ensure compliance with Federal and State laws governing
confidentiality of student records.
The Federal law that addresses this issue is the Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA),21 which applies to
any school that receives Federal funding and which limits the
disclosure of certain information about students that is
contained in education records.22 Under FERPA, disclosure of
information in education records to individuals or entities
other than parents, students, and school officials is
permissible only in specified situations.23 In many cases,
unless the parents or an eligible student24 provides written
consent, FERPA will limit a school's ability to turn over
education records or to disclose information from them to the
police. Such disclosure is permitted, however, if (1) it is
required by a court order or subpoena, or (2) it is warranted
by a health and safety emergency. In the first of these two
cases, reasonable efforts must be made to notify the student's
parents before the disclosure is made. FERPA also permits
disclosure if a State law enacted before November 19, 1974,
specifically requires disclosure to State and local officials.
Schools should be aware, however, that because FERPA
governs only the information in education records, it does not
limit disclosure of other information. Thus, school employees
are free to disclose any information of which they become aware
through personal observation. For example, a teacher who
witnesses a drug transaction may, when the police arrive,
report what he or she witnessed. Similarly, evidence seized
from a student during a search is not an education record and
may be turned over to the police without constraint.
State laws and school policies may impose additional, and
sometimes more restrictive, requirements regarding the
disclosure of information about students. Because this area of
the law is complicated, it is especially important that an
attorney be involved in formulating school policy under FERPA
and applicable State laws.
OTHER LEGAL ISSUES
Lawsuits Against Schools or School Of Officials
Disagreements between parents or students and school
officials about disciplinary measures usually can be resolved
informally. Occasionally, however, a school's decisions and
activities relating to disciplinary matters are the subject of
lawsuits by parents or students against administrators,
teachers, and school systems. For these reasons, it is
advisable that school districts obtain adequate insurance
coverage for themselves and for all school personnel for
liability arising from disciplinary actions.
Suits may be brought in Federal or State court; typically,
they are based on a claim that a student's constitutional or
statutory rights have been violated. Frequently, these suits
will seek to revoke the school district's imposition of some
disciplinary measure, for example, by ordering the
reinstatement of a student who has been expelled or suspended.
Suits may also attempt to recover money damages from the school
district or the employee involved, or both; however, court
awards of money damages are extremely rare. Moreover, although
there can be no guarantee of a given result in any particular
case, courts in recent years have tended to discourage such
litigation,
In general, disciplinary measures imposed reasonably and
in accordance with established legal requirements will be
upheld by the courts. As a rule, Federal judges will not
substitute their interpretations of school rules or regulations
for those of local school authorities or otherwise second-guess
reasonable decisions by school officials.25 In addition, school
officials are entitled to a qualified good-faith immunity from
personal liability for damages for having violated a student's
Federal constitutional or civil rights.26 When this immunity
applies, it shields school officials from any personal
liability for money damages. Thus, as a general matter,
personal liability is very rare, because officials should not
be held personally liable unless their actions are clearly
unlawful, unreasonable, or arbitrary.
When a court does award damages, the award may be
"compensatory" or "punitive." Compensatory damages are awarded
to compensate the student for injuries actually suffered as a
result of the violation of his or her rights and cannot be
based upon the abstract "value" or "importance" of the
cons |