THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 30, 1995 TAG: 9506300051
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E11 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: TEENSPEAK
SOURCE: BY BRANDI MICHELLE SMITH, HIGH SCHOOL CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
IN A MOVE that could affect millions of teenagers, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled this week that public school athletes can be randomly tested for drug use. Schools have the option of whether to do this.
At this week's Teenspeak, five rising juniors from area high schools were asked about how the ruling might play out in local schools.
One local school official said the court had given him another weapon in his ``arsenal'' to combat student drug use. One of the student athletes predicted a different outcome.
``It's time for athletes to get their (good) reputations back - not to be referred to as typical dumb jocks,'' said Tiffani-dawn Sykes, who plays basketball and volleyball and runs track at Western Branch High. People don't hear enough about athletes with perfect grade-point averages or who are valedictorians, she said.
Whether the drug testing would eventually extend to non-athletes will likely be decided by lower courts. But these Hampton Roads teenagers said all students should be subject to random testing.
While testing just athletes might seem discriminatory, testing everyone would bring on its own set of problems, said Tameka Casey, a junior varsity basketball player at Deep Creek High. ``I feel like we are risking some students being tested and tested and tested,'' she said.
``They can say random all they want to,'' added Shannon Lester, a Salem High student, shaking her head.
And what about outstanding students? Would they be just as likely to be tested? Tiffani-dawn doesn't think so. She recalled a student in one of her classes who she said repeatedly showed up reeking of marijuana. The teacher never said a word. Tiffani believes it was because of the student's high performance in class.
Tiffani also said that coaches will shoulder a lot of the responsibility. ``Coaches will have to be fair'' if they are the ones who do the selecting.
Justin Herrine, a Green Run student, warned that random selection could bring up the ``R'' word - race. ``I can almost guarantee that race is going to be brought into it,'' Justin said. He predicted that if random tests don't exactly match the ethnic ratio of the schools or teams, there will be trouble.
Everyone worried about the fairness issue, but then talk turned to punishment.
``Harassment is a (potential) problem, but this is all about help,'' Tameka said. ``Help comes first, then punishment.''
Most of the students shared the opinion that help - not punishment - should be given to those who do test positive for drug use. Others favored a combination of the two.
``You (administrators) can't just say, `You are out of school' when someone tests positive,'' Shannon said. ``Do you know how many people would be out of school?''
If athletes were faced with being kicked out of school or off the team for drug use, it might have some effect on their behavior. Tiffani-dawn said star athletes who wanted scholarships would kick the habit. But lower-ranking team members might just drop off athletic teams. This could lead to even more problems, she said.
The bottom line, Tiffani-dawn said, is: ``The school has to care about its students. MEMO: Brandi Michelle Smith is a rising senior at I.C. Norcom High.
by CNB