The Education Laws Amendment Bill, passed by Parliament at the end of last year, opens the door for schools to start testing learners for drugs. And, with drug addiction and drug-related violence on the increase in South Africa and younger children being targeted by drug dealers, it has been greeted by many parents and educators as a welcome move by government to tackle a harrowing problem at grassroots level.
The response from professionals working in the field of substance abuse has been less enthusiastic. They are concerned about infringement of children’s rights and the integrity of testing procedures and feel that education and information initiatives are adequate measures to promote a safe and drug-free learner environment.
Daphne Bradbury, anti-doping expert and former head of the South African Institute for Drug Free Sport, disagrees. She says that while education enjoys a measure of success, mostly among infrequent and less-experienced drug abusers, according to research conducted in the United Kingdom, among children of eight to 12 years the threat of being randomly selected for a drug test is a far greater deterrent than education. Ideally, however, a school’s anti-drug programme should include both drug testing and education.
“Other advantages of drug testing is that it will provide some youngsters with the opportunity to resist peer pressure to take drugs without losing face,” she says, “and it may also give educators and parents the means to intervene and provide professional help and counselling for a learner at an early stage of substance abuse.”
Bradbury says that critical success factors in the drug-testing programme will be quality and reliability of the testing equipment and the integrity and independence of the testing process. Schools should therefore check on the quality standards and origin of testing equipment and they need to develop and document best practice testing procedures and guidelines for testing personnel.
“It is important to protect the rights of both those being tested and those doing the testing,” she says, “and when schools develop their school drug policies and guidelines, they should take into consideration existing laws, regulations and policies on relevant issues, such as constitutional rights, data protection, biological sampling, informed consent and minors.”
The greatest challenge facing schools, however, may become apparent only once the positive tests start rolling in. How will schools tackle the positive test results? Who will provide internal and external support? Where will schools access reputable, professional and affordable counselling and support services for these learners? Are there sufficient counselling and support resources available throughout the country? And who is responsible for setting and maintaining standards, for training, for accrediting and for funding these resources?