Although proposed testing for children would require parental consent and would be introduced at the discretion of individual headteachers, the concept still leaves many difficulties. Critics believe the proposed tests would make it difficult to maintain the trust of children, when they are trying to be mentors and supporters of children as well as educators.
It would have a negative impact on drug education programmes, driving any use further underground.
Added to this is the uncertainty that random testing actually has a positive effect on tackling drug use where it exists in other settings - prisons, for example.
Yet while drug education in schools has to date had major successes, with many children now informed of the relative risks and dangers of a range of drugs - simultaneously we cannot ignore the bare fact that more needs to be done. Drug use is both illegal and harmful and we need to continue to maintain a proportionate and effective response that meets the needs of schools and children alike.
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