Should middle school kids have to submit to drug test to be in yearbook club?

Should students wanting to join yearbook club have to submit to random drug testing? (AP)

Students as young as middle school are being required to submit to random urine tests to participate in a variety of after-school activities in several states around the country, says a report that appeared in The New York Times.

The random drug tests are being required not just for sports, but also extracurricular activities like drama and choir.

Seattle’s Morning News host Bill Radke considered the issue with his wife, thinking of their young daughter when she reaches middle school age.

“I said, ‘Honey, how would you feel if Susanna was in middle school and wanted to be in the chess club, but first she had to pee into a cup?”

He and his wife decided the tests seemed strange, but they didn’t see it as too serious of an offense to their daughter.

“On balance we decided it’s a way to screen kids for drug use and it’s just a cup. We’re OK with it.”

The schools say the tests help keep young athletes off steroids and other kids off drugs.

But Seattle’s Morning News anchor Linda Thomas says she thinks they’re testing the wrong kids.

“My experience is the kids who are involved in sports, or on the chess club, or involved in any kind of activity after school, they’re not necessarily the ones that are doing drugs.”

According to the report, there haven’t been any instances of middle schoolers testing positive for steroids or performance enhancers. The only thing that’s turned up is marijuana and those cases have been rare.

That leads co-host Tom Tangney to wonder if these tests are really worth all the effort that must be involved.

“It sounds like the problem doesn’t really exist,” says Tom. “Maybe it’s a preventative. It just doesn’t seem a strong enough justification.”

He says he wouldn’t have a problem with the testing if there was evidence of a drug problem among these chess and math club members.

Linda says it might make more sense to just test all the students.

“If the problem is you really want to prevent drug use, then why limit it to the kids who are going out for drama, and choir, and football?”

By JAMIE GRISWOLD, MyNorthwest.com