Federal
drug-control agencies urge schools to help students who use drugs, not just
toss them off campus.
Guidelines
in a report released by the Office of National Drug Control Policy a few years
ago urged treatment and counseling for high school drug users, rather than
simply suspending or expelling them.
“The
goal is to say we believe we can do a better job of making kids healthy,” said
John Walters, who directed the office.
The
report said that kicking students out of school without treatment can create
“drug-using dropouts,” which is an even bigger problem.
The
advice challenges policies in many districts that automatically suspend or
expel students caught with drugs.
Kathleen
Lyons, spokeswoman for the National Education Association, said her group would
back those guidelines.
“That's
what we would endorse, helping kids, not simply punishing them,” she said.
She
added, “It doesn't do anybody any good just to take a drug test and kick the
kid out of school — where's he going to go? It doesn't solve anyone's problem
and may, in fact, worsen it.”
Reasonable
people can disagree, but I believe this approach makes a lot of sense as we
continue to help students overcome drug dependence and pursue healthy
lifestyles.
