By Docker Haub
Student Reporter
Whenever you’re in middle school, your biggest worries typically involve what’s on the lunch menu for the day, if your crush likes you back, or if you have enough AR points in order to go on the class field trip.
But as time has gone on and new generations are being raised with different morals and standards, do middle school students have different things on their mind? Are they interested in drugs and alcohol?
According to www.drugrehab.com, one-third of middle school students say that students keep, use and sell drugs at school.
The middle school years can be a very influential and developmental time-period for children. Most kids are trying to understand where they fit in and what their true interests are. Are today’s kids viewing drugs and alcohol as the new cool thing?
About a month ago, Kingfisher Middle School in Kingfisher, Oklahoma found three 5th grade girls drinking beer in the bathroom during the middle of the school day. An event like that is something that would have been unheard of whenever I was in middle school.
So what is causing this change in the behavior of young people? I think one cause of this type of behavior could be the popularity and the content of the new music that kids listen to very heavily nowadays. Songs that glorify the abuse of alcohol and drugs and shine them in a positive light.
Artists like “Lil Xan,” “Lil Pump” and “Lil Baby” are all artists that have had major success in the last couple of years and are all artists that glorify drug use.
So the question arises, should middle school students begin to be drug tested by the school? That’s a tough question to talk about.
I think that most people with old school views on the matter would say that middle school students are too young to be drug tested and almost see it as offensive. On the other hand, there are some people who might say that you need to adapt to the changing times and drug test middle school students in an effort to try to catch the students who might be using drugs.
I think that any parent would agree that the last thing they want is their child being exposed to drugs and alcohol in middle school.
Maybe drug testing middle school students is a way of keeping them on the right path. If a middle school student is in fact abusing drugs, There needs to be someone to lend them a helping hand and show them the health problems that drugs can do to children at that age, show them that they don’t have to take drugs to be “cool” or to “fit in” and show them what they are truly capable of when they set their mind to something.
This can be a controversial topic to talk about but whenever the well being of our young people of America is at risk, something has to be done. So, should middle school students be drug tested?