SECON Rep Visits with AES Students about Drug Testing Procedure
This morning, Mary Womack, a representative from SECON, talked to the Ascension student body about the process of the upcoming drug testing.
SECON is a 32-year-old organization that specializes in drug and alcohol testing. They serve almost every private Christian school a 50-mile area, as well as prisons, drug courts, and corporations.
According to Mrs. Renard, Dean of Students, testing will occur four times throughout the year. Each time, approximately 14 people will be randomly selected. SECON has been given a list of all students, and the company will be responsible for randomizing selections. The testing company determines the dates and times for testing, not AES.
According to Mrs. Womack, if a student is chosen to be tested, his/her name will be reentered into the system and can still be chosen for later testings.
Mrs. Womack said that the process of the drug test is a relatively simple one. The method will be a urine test, but hair tests will be available for those students unable to supply a urine sample.
A female representative will be in the girls’ locker room in the gym to collect the samples, and a male representative will be in the boys’ locker room. After the student signs a label for the sample and gives it back to the representative, the sample will be sent off to be processed.
“We’re testing for illegal drugs. Right now, that means a drug you don’t have a prescription for, or any drug considered illegal by the government, like cocaine or marijuana,” Mary Womack shared. She then gave students a list of possible drugs and how long each drug can stay in one’s system, including:
- Amphetamines, 3-5 days
- Barbiturates, 14 days
- Benzodiazephines, 10 days
- Cocaine, 5 days
- Suboxone, 14 days
- Marijuana, 30 days
- Oxycotin, 3 days
- Synthetic drugs, 3-5 days
“We want 100 percent negatives. That’s our goal of this program. Not to catch you doing something wrong, but to keep you from trying something you know you shouldn’t do,” Mrs. Womack explained. “The last thing we want is a positive. It’s a lot more trouble for everybody involved.”
Mrs. Womack explained that a positive test is re-confirmed with an outside lab before results are returned to the school or to parents.
According to Mrs. Renard, the most common question she has received from parents concerns prescription drugs. She said that the SECON technician will ask the student in private to disclose any medication he/she is taking.
“Even if they forget, it will not be a big deal,” said Mrs. Renard. “The test would result in a positive, at which point they would send the test on for a second round to verify the results. A SECON tech will call the parent to verify that the child does have a prescription to take that medication and then would discard the positive reading. All of this happens through SECON, and the school is not notified at any point in this process. That would be a violation of HIPAA laws.”
The talk of drug testing has triggered many different opinions amongst students at Ascension.
“Drug testing at AES goes against the ‘honor code,” said Sophomore Jacob Broussard, explaining that the code is supposed to be an agreement of trust between students and faculty.
However, many students agree that this is a necessary program.
“Drug testing at Ascension is a great thing to do to protect students from harmful drugs and bad decisions,” explained Eighth Grader Grace Hill.
“Drug testing is a useful motivator to avoid drug usage,” said Junior Luke Butcher. “Just because you do something wrong doesn’t mean it won’t be discovered. There are no loopholes!”
If you have any questions, you can visit SECON’s website at DrugScreen.com, or you can contact Mary Womack at the numbers and email below.
SECON’s toll free number: 800-256-3741, ext 5611
Mary Womack- P: 337-262-9611 / C: 337-591-3426 / F: 337-235-950
[email protected]
Mrs. Renard told the student body that the penalties for a positive drug test are detailed in the school’s Substance Abuse Policy, which is part of the Student Handbook and can be found on the school’s website. Click Sugar Mill Pond and select Resources to download the policy document.
Ann Chance • Sep 12, 2013 at 9:54 pm
Thanks for reiterating everything that was said this morning. For me personally, I always grasp new information better if I am able to not only hear it but to also read it. I am only sorry that you did not mention that the test would also be used for alcohol in one’s system. It is also an illegal substance since all of our students are underage to have alcohol. Thanks again for the great work of the entire Authored Ascension staff. Mrs. Chance
Jacob Broussard • Sep 12, 2013 at 9:23 pm
I think the drug testing at AES goes against the “honor code” which is supposed to be an agreement of trust between students and faculty. I think it makes the honor code seem one sided and only to be used against students when they are in a position of trouble and not used to actually symbolize trust. If it actually symbolized trust then the students would be able to sign “on my honor” on a document saying they are not on any sort of drugs and have that document be just as valid as a drug test in stead of having to allegedly prove it with screening processes. Is the honor code really upheld here if it shows the one sided view of trust?
Andre Guidry • Sep 12, 2013 at 9:06 pm
While I suppose I somewhat understand the motivation for Mandatory Random Student Drug Testing at a blind view, I think it’s a bit unnecessary, especially the administrative-suspicion aspect of the testing. Legally, of course, the process is permitted, but I don’t see this as the ends justifying the means. We go to a school that considers itself one of the highest value-holding schools within the area, which is generally agreed upon. While I think it’s a stretch to say that this has anything to do with the Honor Code, I think the point holds some merit. Being such a small, Christian, high-standing school, there needs to be a certain level of trust and respect for privacy of students. The last thing we need at Ascension is for mistrust, resistance, and defiance between the students and teachers as a result of this testing. Especially being in the environment we are in, drug usage isn’t that prevalent in comparisom to a majority of other schools. And even the few inevitable circumstances this school has with substance usage, none of it has escalated to a point of severe, immediate health or safety risk for students. Additionally, I don’t think there is necessarily ignorance or a need for risk-education towards the effects and risks of substance abuse/usage from the highly-educated students we have. There’s no need to employ a drug-testing policy for symbolic reasons based on statistics of teenage drug usage, while ignoring the notion that we go to a school where that is a very minimal problem (in retrospect, of course). There’s a fine line between doing what is best for the “health and safety of the students” and causing even more mischievous activity, as without a doubt, a majority of those students who take part in drug usage will find more cautious times and methods to induce said substances or will take any and all potential means for ridding their bodies of the substance in a timely manner in which it is especially unlikely that the drug testing will occur. Besides, a scare-tactic is not a very effective way of implementing any rule, especially in the case of drug usage. Students will simply do their very best to find a way around a positive test. Why wouldn’t they? And with only 4 testings happening this year, I recognize that there are large potential windows for safety from being caught. The effectiveness statistics of high school Mandatory Random Student Drug Testing have proven over the years that there is no set conclusion as to whether or not drug testing deters drug usage. Often times, there is relatively minimal concern towards the realistic outcome of drug testing, as success rates and effectiveness are often assumed. Being specifically at Ascension, it’s wrong to assume that the outcome of this drug testing will be effective by comparison to other larger schools, which teenage drug usage statistics are most often based off of. The minimal research on the success of the topic has left varying results, a lot of which lack empirical and anecdotal evidence. In a few situations, the problem has even shown to worsen. The effectiveness at Ascension will not be the same as the effectiveness as say, Lafayette High School, simply because of the difference in size and environment. Ultimately, the effectiveness is based on a circumstance-by-circumstance basis in schools, under which I assert that Ascension should not be a primary concern. Drug testing, especially at the school’s expense, is fairly expensive to operate on an assumptuous basis of success without set-in-stone statistical backup.
So in conclusion, I think the cessation of minute drug usage at Ascension is unattainable and the means of which the school is currently taking is a waste of time, students’ trust, and money. I can understand drug testing for students in sports or extra-curricular activities for the sole purpose of rule regulations and fair play, but I’m simply not convinced that this is currently a necessary step in the aimless strive to stop a problem that is shown to have minimal success in the grand scheme of things. Ascension is not a prison. We don’t need to be drug tested because we are held to a higher standard. Lets keep the school from being a prison. With trust in the students from the faculty and administration comes appreciation for the privacy and respect of the students, and more importantly, compliance in a Christian education. If parents specifically request for their child to be drug tested, then so be it. But to assume the potential guilt of part of the entirety of the student body by random drug testing only shows that the school lacks trust and is too involved in the students’ lives. This is simply my opinion, however long, but I think we’re ultimately trying to make a purposeless point. It’s one of those things that sounds better on paper than in reality. Stay classy, Ascension.