Dear Shalom,
Let me begin by commending Rabbi Kroll for running a school honest enough to attempt to deal with the very real issue of drug use that is a challenge in all Jewish day schools. It is usually the schools that ignore or deny the problem exists that end up with the most serious harm impacting young people in their care.
Before proceeding, I will issue a reader's warning...I am a jaded skeptic who does not believe people who use drugs or their codependent family members are always trustworthy and honest so I enter this conversation with a sense of bias and my words should be taken with a grain of salt.
Anyone who knows chronic substance abusers will tell you they often share one trait in common, namely consistent dishonesty until confronted by the painful truth of the consequences of their actions. Parents of substance abusing teens often can't or won't deal with the magnitude of problem their child is facing. This was best expressed in a famous movie line when a teen was asked how he gets away with dealing drugs when he has such strict parents, the teen simply responded "never underestimate the power of denial".
I am interested in seeing what the long term trends are for drug usage in schools where drug test results go only to parents. I am unclear as to what "seems to be working" means. Are there metrics used to help track progress, if so I would love to see that data. If the usage stays the same or increases over time then I am unsure whether this plan could be considered successful or not. If it decreases significantly over time then the case could be made for the prudence of this approach.
It is commendable to have all students drug tested, but I don't really fully grasp the benefit of not having results sent to school staff as experience tells me that some parents are often unlikely to intervene in a serious manner even when shown test results implicating their own child's dangerous behavior. On the other hand, AA has discovered that the only real long term way to help people recover from addiction is by preserving the anonymity of participants in a program of recovery. It may be that this type of program is the best way or even the only way of preserving the anonymity needed for users to get help in a school setting.
I am curious as to what other professional educators think of this novel approach that makes sense on many levels. That said, if no one else is doing this, one has to ask the question why? It may be that this a cutting edge approach leading to a breakthrough solution or it could be that it is not a real solution at all. I guess longitudinal data will tell which of these possibilities are correct.
Having wide spread approval for a plan from students and graduates that holds no one accountable other than on an honor system basis is not that surprising to me and may actually be a reason why this program should not be adopted.
This may not only be an issue of "discipline for behavior outside of school", if this type of behavior is taking place outside of a school then it is quite possibly taking place in a school at times as well.
I hope we see positive results from this type of bold and courageous initiative for the entire field of Jewish education.
Shalom,
Elisha Paul
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/31/2017 07:31AM by mlb.
