"Fairer, Still a Half-Step"
"Public high schools routinely discipline students who use, sell or possess illegal drugs or alcohol. But they frequently single out athletes for extra discipline -- barring them from competition, for instance -- because of the special status such students have among their peers.
Portland public schools decided recently that this was unfair and have adopted a policy of disciplining equally all rule breakers engaged in extracurricular activities. So members of the debate club or actors involved in the school play will, like athletes, get added sanctions for breaking the rules. The change in policy is an attempt to make it clear to all participants in after-school activities that using drugs and alcohol is unacceptable.
Portland deserves credit for trying to apply rules more uniformly. But teens who engage in extracurricular activities are the ones least likely to be involved in taking drugs. It's the student who is not involved in such activities, who is frequently absent or who drops out, who is most at risk.
Most adults underestimate the amount of illegal substances commonly found in virtually all Connecticut public high schools. The problem is not limited to cities; the finest suburban schools have more drugs available than inner-city schools because they tend to be more affluent.
A student who abuses alcohol or uses drugs is already in serious trouble that could affect the rest of his life. A thoughtful and compassionate policy would not be satisfied with merely booting offending students off the team or out of the school play. Being punitive is not enough. Schools should provide drug and alcohol programs that have been proved to work to help students deal with their problems. Doing otherwise is only a half-step.
Connecticut"