CYP Now - Editorial: Why is the DfES keeping mum about dogs?

For thousands of pupils around the country, the occasional visit by drug sniffer dogs to school is now a part of life. A survey by the charity Drugscope found that more than 100 schools regularly use dogs to search children for cannabis and other drugs.

Heads are understandably always on the look-out for additional tools and methods they can use to ensure the drug-free learning environment that parents and pupils have a right to expect. Schools started trying out sniffer dogs a few years ago, with the help of local police forces.

The practice has since spread rapidly, especially since private firms began marketing sniffer dog services to schools.

What is harder to figure out is where the Department for Education and Skills stands on the issue. Just over two months ago, the department issued guidance on the management of drug issues in schools. It said that tools such as dogs and random testing should be used only in exceptional circumstances. It advised schools against using dogs as a deterrent, and only where there are grounds for suspicion.

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