Persuasive Speech of Policy
Channel: Austin Pierce
Date: 2019-11-20

Austin Pierce
Title: Should High School Kids be Drug Tested?
Topic: Drug Testing High Schoolers
Specific Purpose Statement: To determine why high school students should be drug tested. 
Thesis Statement: Drug testing high schoolers is something commonly argued about due to the increased amount of schools with drug testing programs in affect, the continued usage of drugs, and amount of nicotine products available to teenagers, but does it invade privacy?
Introduction: All teenagers are approached at least once in their life, and are faced with one of the toughest decisions they have to make. Want to come to the party Friday night? You want a hit of my juul? They can either say yes to getting high off that drug, or drinking to the point of a blackout. Or they can make the decision their parents taught them to make, and that is to say no. Most students will fall under peer pressure, and use the drug. Some however, will stay true to their morals and make the decision they deem is best for them. In most schools, students know they are not at risk of being drug tested, because their school doesn’t do it, or if they do, the chances of them being randomly selected is slim, so the student continues to use that drug. Drug testing high schoolers is something commonly argued about due to the increased amount of schools with drug testing programs in affect, the continued usage of drugs, and amount of nicotine products available to teenagers, but does it invade privacy?





I.  Yes
A. Schools with programs in effect (Lacey, 2019)
B. Reasonable suspicion / Increased use (Franz, 2016)
C. Who (Dodd, 2018)
II.  No
A. Privacy / Rights (Pritchard, 2018)
B. Cost (Thayer, 2018)
C. Inefficiency (Lacey, 2016)
Conclusion: Today, we discussed both pros and cons of drug testing high school students. Throughout my speech, you may have noticed that I use the word student, and not the phrase athlete. When people hear about drug tests, they think of athletes. However, any student wishing to participate in an extracurricular should have to submit themselves as a possible test subject. We went over the increased use of drugs, who would be tested, and in what circumstances it should be enforced. As well as, why it may invade privacy or rights, its total cost, and the inefficiency of testing. Drug testing high schoolers is something commonly argued about due to the increased amount of schools with drug testing programs in affect, the continued usage of drugs, and amount of nicotine products available to teenagers, but does it invade privacy?






Sources
Dodd, L. (2018, June 20). Drug testing will expand at Midway High School. Retrieved from https://www.wacotrib.com/news/education/drug-testing-will-expand-at-midway-high-school/article_0f345d9d-fdec-5a0f-9226-84762125dc30.html. 

Franz, J. C. (2016, April 1). Student Athlete Drug Testing. Retrieved from https://thesportjournal.org/article/student-athlete-drug-testing/. 

Lacey, R. (2019, January 9). The school drug-testing dilemma. Retrieved from http://districtadministration.com/the-school-drug-testing-dilemma/. 

Pritchard, E. (2018, August 4). More and more area schools are drug testing students. But is it 'proactive' or just 'expensive and ineffective?'. Retrieved from https://www.kearneyhub.com/news/local/more-and-more-area-schools-are-drug-testing-students-but/article_a0b05b52-978e-11e8-a8ff-3b8b3a6aa85a.html. 

Thayer, J. (2015, March 31). Texas ready to dump $10M high school steroids testing program. Retrieved from https://www.foxnews.com/sports/texas-ready-to-dump-10m-high-school-steroids-testing-program.