Drug testing should begin in the home

So the Sycamore school district is considering drug tests for athletes.

Bravo.

But why stop at the athletes? Why not test every student? And why stop at high school kids? Nationally, 15.5 percent of eighth-graders have said they smoked marijuana within the year. Nearly 3 percent say they have used cocaine.

Test young. Test often. Test all.

But the drug tests I advocate have nothing to do with peeing in a cup.

Those tests may identify who's got a bloodstream full of uppers on Saturday morning, but it's questionable whether they can prevent getting wasted on Friday night. That's where the other ''drug tests'' come in.

Here's one for starters: How about the test where a parent actually greets a kid who's returning home from a party at midnight? Sees, smells and listens to him. Watches him walk down the hall to his room. Gets close enough to smell alcohol or pot smoke.

That's a good test. Cheap, too. Teen-agers hate that one.

Mannerly checking

Such a call, the height of good manners, accomplishes several things. It establishes that there is a party, and that Mrs. Googleheimer knows about it. (What an interesting conversation will develop at that house if the elder Googleheimers were heading out of town for the weekend not knowing that their home was to be Party Central.)

It also gives Brad's parents a realistic ETA (estimated time of arrival), so they can expect an explanation if he rolls in three hours late. Last but not least, it alerts Mrs. Googleheimer that Brad's parents expect their son to leave the party straight and sober.

Then there are the pop quizzes. All are short-answer.

Has your child had a sudden change in friends, surrounding himself with a group unknown to you?

Have her grades dropped suddenly?

Has your teen-ager started buying clothes with drug-related messages or symbols?

Has your son or daughter suddenly lost interest in favorite activities?

Then there's the real no-brainer. Suspect that drugs may be involved if a teen:

A) Runs away. B) Suddenly gains or loses a great deal of money. C) Steals.

Parents, wake up

Do you frequently talk to your child about drug use, from preschool to college?

Unfortunately, most parents bomb this one. According to PRIDE (the National Parents' Resource Institute for Drug Education), only one-third of 200,000 students surveyed said their parents talk to them regularly about the dangers of drugs. A third also said their parents don't set clear rules.

Yet for every type of drug use surveyed, and for every age of student, drug abuse was higher among students whose parents did not talk to them about drugs. The opposite was also true - the more parents talked, the less frequently kids did drugs.

OK. OK. I can hear whining about the assignment. ''Does she really think I'm going to stay up to see if my kid has bloodshot eyes on Saturday night? He'd be furious.'' ''I know there's a drug problem, but my kid is a good kid.'' ''My daughter would never forgive me if I called to check up on her.''

Yeah, I really expect parents to call, sniff, ask. Baby boomers are the first generation to have grown up with drug abuse. Some take it lightly because they survived a little friendly ''experimentation.''

But crack wasn't around back then. Kids didn't start as young. Partyers rarely carried weapons. Kids had less of the money and mobility that make drug abuse so much more likely.

So give your kids the tests. Ignorance will never cost you more.

Krista Ramsey's column appears in The Enquirer on Saturdays. Write her at 312 Elm Street, Cincinnati 45202 or fax at 768-8340.

Published July 20, 1996.