A new program has been instituted in Arlington High School (Arlington, MA) called “Let Me Prove It”. The program requires student-athletes to solicit peers to take at home drug tests to prove their drug-free lifestyle. Arlington High School has recruited 5 ambassadors to take the drug tests, share the results with their parents or guardians, sign a certificate stating they are drug free, and encourage their peers to take drug tests. Ambassadors who encourage the most peers to take drug tests are eligible to receive college scholarships, provided by First Check Diagnostics, the company providing these drug tests. Responses to “Let Me Prove It” have spanned from wholehearted support to a willingness to try to outrage. Supporters suggest the program addresses drug use from a positive standpoint, which is in contrast to many previous attempts to address drug use. People against these drug tests view the tests as gimmicks intended to promote First Check Diagnostics rather than promote healthy living. Between the two extreme views lies the “lets try it” approach that suggests the importance of trying different tactics to address drug use and the failure of past tactics to successfully elicit behavior change from students.
If the pilot program is successful, several school districts are targeted for implementing this program over the next year: Malden, Burlington, Somerville, Waltham, and Watertown. My initial response is interest over the selection process for school districts. Why are these schools targeted? Does the company have evidence to suggest these schools are the most at-risk for drug use? Are these schools expressing interest in the program?
In the era of youth development programs, the emphasis of such programs is on creating positive teacher-student relationships, developing strengths, and empowering youth. While I support creatively finding programs to address persistent issues, I wonder about the message this program carries to the students. I certainly hope a comprehensive evaluation is conducted during and following the pilot study to ensure that program leaders are acting ethically and responsibly, and, as sport psychologists say, doing no harm.
It is also important to note that the Athletic Director is introducing the program. The article fails to mention if the program is geared toward athletes or all students. Testing kids for drugs is a tricky buisness. It would seem that if there is any level of trust between parent/child, teacher/student or coach/athelete that asking youngsters to do the test would violate that trust. I do not think this is a good front line defence against adolesent drug use since it will only work to break down the relationships that have been built through sport or the classroom. This method can never be a replacement making positive connections with kids, being a model for good decision making and education on drugs and alchohol.
ReplyDeleteTrue. One danger of this program is the potential threat to healthy parent/child trusting relationships. One benefit, I see, is a creative means to possibly address a prevalent and time sensitive topic.
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