drug search at school

[hahaRainbow]

Is this legal? my ds has come home from school (state comp) where (he says) during a science class, a teacher arrived announcing that 'this is a drug free school and now we are going to have the sniffer dogs in'.

Apparently the kids were then lined up while a dog ran up and down sniffing them and another dog sniffed the classroom.

of course I'm not happy about drugs at school but I do wonder about the legalities of this and what IF a kid had been caught.... am I wrong to be worried?

bigjims I have a certain amount of sympathy with your views.

The policy in the UK and globally has not worked and caused more harm than good in a lot of places.

And I do suspect that different people will have different views depending on what they "know"- what the norms were when they were growing up etc.

bigjim I'm not actually as anti drugs as I may be coming across as I have no major issue with cannabis. However, it has no place within school grounds and surely you can see that too?

They do a lot of teaching about drugs in Chemistry and Citizenship at schools these days. Far more than when I was at school.

I am anti drugs in the sense that I believe in their current regulation they cause a huge amount if harm within society. Of course I don't think drugs have a place in schools, I just don't think police sniffer dog searches are an effective way to prevent them being there.

When was the last time you were in a secondary school in the UK, bigjim?

You do know, don't you, that drugs education of the kind you describe is part of the curriculum? Obviously, some schools may do it better than others.

Educating young people about drug use and sending in sniffer dogs are not mutually exclusive processes.

Can't you see how those two approaches would completely contradict though? On the one hand saying let's be reasonable, honest and mature about the existence of drug use in teenagers. Having an open door policy where teenagers can confidentially access drugs support, and on the other hand ruthlessly identifying and punishing people in possession , causing a detriment to theirs and everyone else's education. An institution which treats young drug users as criminals and write offs is not the place someone would go to seek advice comfort and support about the same issue. Its alienating.

I left school in 2006, I'm sure drugs education has come a long way since that. But having studied drug policy recently I really don't think its anywhere near as good or effective as it could, especially compared to other parts of Europe.

Ok, I'll ask again, bigjim, you say you don't think sniffer dogs are the answer (with no evidence to back up why this may be the case) to prevent drugs in schools.

Leaving aside the education of young people about drugs, which we know happens in schools anyway, how would you tackle the problem of drugs in schools. On a practical level, mind, not just a "this doesn't sit well with me" level.

I've told you I would tackle it through education, and if you don't think it works check out the drugs stats for Holland versus the authoritarian approaches of places like America. Of course it doesn't sit in a vacuum,we need wider societal changes as well. But if we are just focusing on schools I would tackle it in the way I've already outlined. I really don't think its fair to say that my argument is simply 'it doesn't sit right with me', I have provided evidence in terms of geographical comparisons, as well as stating that my opinion is based on in depth study and theory. I think the people saying 'it sounds tough so let's give it a go', without any evidence or comparisons to support this are the ones relying on emotional reasoning, rather than me.

They can take a zero tolerance approach (bad idea IMO but never mind), without the introduction of invasive, counter productive, and disruptive sniffer dogs. Just because something sounds about right does not mean it is! And despite leaving behind the just say no campaign (we didnt even have that in the naughties when i was in school!) drugs education still tends to tarnish and stigmatize users, which encourages people to fall into one camp such as 'drugs are OK', or another 'drugs are bad', which isn't helpful.

I would disagree tiggytape, in reality if sniffer dogs are coming on school property to wean out those in possession people will be put off seeking support or advice from that institution whether their own drug taking happens inside or outside of school.

It's not going to be relatively unusual for a child to bring drugs onto school property in every school in the UK.

It wasn't unusual for people to bring drugs into school when I was at school either (this is going back quite a number of years now though!).

That aside, I am pretty firm in my belief that lining children up for any kind of searching procedure is something I find unacceptable, it has overtones which give me a really visceral reaction. And you need to bring in so many other factors. It's not a "one size fits all" and in some areas this policy could end up backfiring horribly in various ways. Drugs are a very complex issue throughout our society and the world and I find the "zero tolerance find em deal with em" approach simplistic TBH.

I wonder if the OP can be arsed to come back to the thread they started?

Plus it of course its more than possible to be a recreational drug user and highly academically capable,what a waste if someone was to get suspended or expelled for having drugs without realizing their full potential. Once a label sticks its very hard to unstick it. There is a complete difference to pulling a pupil aside and giving them a private warning if they appear to be on or in possession of drugs, than lining kids up like criminals, and pulling someone out in front off everyone giving them a reputation, and disrupting their education.

I mean what do people think the effect will be, in areas where children are already fairly alienated to the police, and school is a safe harbour from all of that, of bringing police into the school with sniffer dogs so that all children are lined up and searched.

I can't see that as positive for any of the children to be entirely frank.

Or the police or community relations.

Exactly pilchard. It will be the already marginalized and alienated who will the bear the brunt of it as usual.

OK tiggy but that doesn't mean that they have to do random police searches, and if it does, if that's already the law then its pointless to debate it here. Although if that's the case i was very unaware and will definitely be looking in to that a bit.

Well no wonder this country has such a bad drug problem then. When are the governments actually going to listen to the results of the research they commission instead of tossing it aside because it doesn't fit with their moral value system or pander to the reactionary lay beliefs of the electorate. Screenings, sniffer dogs, detectors, searches, all lip service measures for a problem that runs way deeper.

A liberal view on drugs is fine if that is your think that is what teenagers who use and deal drugs think to it will do no harm it is my choice it will enhance my life blah de blah but the bottom line is drugs and alcohol are illegal to have in schools not all children if any will go to parents to have a chat about their drug use children need protecting and ifyour child is dealing or using drugs it needs dealt with. Btw weed is is a major factor isin some teenagers with Mental Health problems it is not harmless

I do not think weed is harmless,apologies if it came across like that. I meant that there are a lot of cannabis smokers for whom the knock on effect of the searches would be much more disruptive to their education than the drugs themselves. I used myself as a potential example. This is just one of many reasons why I think drugs searches, particularly in this manner, are a terrible idea. I understand that the teachers have their work cut out trying to teach within these conditions , and also have pressure from ubove to be seen to tackle the issue in line with government policies, but the approach itself is fundamentally flawed and needs speaking out against, which is really all I'm trying to do here.