EDITORIAL - Saving kids from drug abuse

With the country facing a serious drug problem, parents would want to protect their children from the scourge. Going about this, however, needs careful planning and implementation.

The law authorizes mandatory drug testing for students in high school and college. As the secretary of education has pointed out, however, grade school children are excluded from the coverage of the law. Now the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency is hoping to change this, by including elementary school students from fourth grade up or at least nine years old in the public school system to undergo drug testing.

It’s not unusual for pre-adolescents to experiment with banned substances. Among the extremely poor, even rugby is sniffed for a cheap high and to assuage hunger. Drug abuse is also likely among children who are hired as mules by adult traffickers because the law exempts juveniles from criminal prosecution. Parents – unless they themselves are engaged in illegal drug deals – will want to protect their children from the drug menace. And they will normally accept any help from the government to see this happen.

Children, however, need special handling and optimal privacy protection. Drug abuse is a complex problem that is often linked to personal or family issues. Testing positive in a school drug test can stigmatize a child and aggravate the distress, especially if authorities are careless in sharing what should be confidential information.

Department of Education officials have reminded the PDEA about the exemption of grade school pupils from mandatory drug testing under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. There is also the question of resources: DepEd officials estimate that drug testing for 14 million students will cost P2.8 billion.

The PDEA is correct in wanting to clip drug abuse at a young age. It would be better for the PDEA, however, to first consult DepEd officials, educators, parent-teacher associations and even student groups to discuss measures for curbing substance abuse among the young. The intention of the drug-testing proposal may be good, but if badly implemented, there’s a well-known saying about what paves the road to hell.