Many student athletes react favorably to drug testing in city schools

While the random testing of student-athletes at Juneau-Douglas High School has been widely supported by Juneau coaches and parents, the voice of youth has been less heard.

Though there is surely opposition, as there is with most controversial issues, interviews show that students are generally in favor of the mandatory random drug testing program that will begin next month.

Keath Flint, a senior on the Crimson Bears baseball team, said drug testing is a good idea.

"It will keep a lot of kids from even thinking about doing it, and it will give them the power to say no," he said. "That will just be another reason for them not to do it if somebody comes up and asks them. If any kid feels like they're being pressured into trying it or doing it, it will just be really easy for them to say 'no, I'm in a sport and they do random drug testing.'"

Flint also said he doesn't think drug testing violates any of his personal rights.

"I think that we have to have stuff like that," he said. "If you want to be an athlete, you should be able to make the right choices."

One area of controversy has been punishment for violations. Under the current rules, a student who fails a drug test will be suspended for an entire season, whether they test positive for hard drugs or alcohol and tobacco. This has brought debate that the punishment should fit the crime, arguing that a positive test for drugs is more serious than a positive test for alcohol or tobacco.

However, most students tend to agree that if someone is partaking in something illegally, they should be subject to whatever punishment has been established.

Taylor Larson, a junior on the JDHS volleyball team, thinks the proposed punishment is fitting.

"If they are making the decision to do those things when they are not supposed to, that punishment is actually a fair punishment," she said. "They shouldn't be able to play at all."

Teammate Sarah Tarver, also a junior, said she is glad drug testing will begin. Athletes shouldn't be doing drugs in the first place, she said, and now her peers will have no excuse to succumb to peer pressure to experiment.

"I don't think it's a good excuse to say, 'Oh, they're telling me I have no choice,' because everybody has a choice," Tarver said.

Flint said that he thinks 90 percent of athletes are in favor of drug testing. Larson said it seems fairly split. Of the half dozen students interviewed none openly opposed drug testing.

• Matthew Tynan can be reached at matthew.tynan@juneauempire.com.