Saint Viator's drug policy has been in place since 2007. At the beginning of the school year, each student is tested for the presence of drugs with a hair sample. After that, a computer selects 15 students each week for random testing.
This year, the list of illegal drugs has a major addition: alcohol.
Starting in October, the test will be able to indicate how much alcohol a student has consumed in the previous three months.
"My prayer is that by doing this we will help our students make better choices and are able to intervene in the lives of students who might be at an early stage of an alcohol problem," Fr. Corey Brost, C.S.V., told parents. After many years with the Viatorians, this is Fr. Brost's first year as president of the school.
In a 2010 survey of high school students by the Illinois Department of Youth Services, 53 percent of sophomores and 60 percent of seniors reported getting alcohol from a friend within the last year, and 51 percent of sophomores and 58 percent of seniors were able to acquire alcohol at a party. Nearly a third of the surveyed students obtained alcohol from their home without their parent’s permission.
According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control, a 2011 high school survey found that 39 percent of the students surveyed admitted to drinking some amount of alcohol during the previous 30 days, while 22 percent admitted to binge drinking. Other studies show that teens who drink alcohol in high school are more likely to become problem drinkers as adults.
Saint Viator's current drug program has been determined a success: Less than 1 percent of the tests come back positive. A first offense results in a private meeting with a school administrator and the student's parents, along with a mandatory evaluation with a school counselor. There is no discipline for a first positive test. Those students are retested 90 days later.
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A second positive test result involves disciplinary measures, but each case is considered individually.
A parent survey showed widespread support for adding alcohol to the list of illegal drugs. The test will not pick up minimum levels of alcohol, such as the alcohol in communion wine. But a student will test positive if he or she consumes even small amounts of alcohol on a regular basis or has consumed a large amount in a short period of time.
"It's our goal to help our young people grow spiritually, emotionally, psychologically and physically, but alcohol impedes growth in all of those areas," Fr. Brost told the Daily Herald. "We want to intervene in the lives of kids who are drinking a lot or starting to experiment with alcohol."
