Story Archive

Dare to Be Dumb

Michael and Melinda May decided their daughter would not be participating in the National Junior Honor Society during her eighth-grade year, because it would require them to sign a permission slip allowing the school to continue drug testing her. The Susquenita School District in Harrisburg, Pa., does drug testing on all students that participate in extracurricular activities or drive to school. Leila May was tested once in the fifth grade, once in sixth grade, and three times in the seventh grade. All the results were negative, and her parents decided to pull her out of the program rather than subject her to another embarrassing urine test. “We were so tired of this happening over and over again, so we said ‘what can we do to make it stop?’ We took her out of NJHS because of it,” Melinda said. “It’s sad that this is what we had to resort to. It’s ridiculous.” The program costs the district approximately $50,000 per year, and in the last 5 years only three students came back with a positive result. (MS/Harrisburg Patriot-News) ...That’s a much better use of educational funding than actual education.