Students and Teachers Should Be Tested for Drugs Use in Public Schools - Research Proposal Example

The paper 'Students and Teachers Should Be Tested for Drugs Use in Public Schools' is a worthy example of a research proposal on education.
The testing of students and teachers in public schools was not common in the past. However, it was introduced after suspecting that some students and teachers might be using drugs thus negatively affecting educational and socialization activities in schools. The first kinds of drug testing in public schools were done to students who were participating in athletics as a measure of regulating athletics (Klesse, 2004). The second kind of drug testing in public schools that was allowed by the law was on students who revealed symptoms of drug use (Imber & Geel, 2010). So far, the issue of whether all the students in public schools should be tested for drugs is still controversial. Another even more controversial issue is whether the teacher should also be tested for drug use.

The issue of testing of both teachers and the students is actually a problem that requires to be addressed. Although it is an expensive undertaking to the school and the district involved, it is believed that it would yield a very positive result. According to Goldberg (2009), drug use can lessen the productivity of a person as well as increased absenteeism and costs of health care. This can actually affect education activity negatively thus hinder learning. However, drug testing for both teachers and students is believed to violate several human rights of the persons involved. As a result, there is a very big opposition on whether it should be allowed to be undertaken for all the students as well as all the teachers. This is what makes this to be a problem that requires research so that to determine the best solution which can be adapted.

Identify where and for whom it is a problem

This issue is identified as a problem in various places that have activities involving both the teachers and the students. The main areas in which this issue is identified to be a problem are the schools and the student social gathering places like symposiums and playgrounds. It has become very difficult to determine whether all the students and teachers in a school should be tested for drugs. It is also difficult to decide whether to be testing only the students and teachers who are involved in sports and learning symposium and not to test the others.

This issue is a problem for the entire school fraternity as well as the community and the district concerned. However, it has been noted that the adolescent, youths and young adults are the most affected by drug use while in schools (Regoli, Hewitt & DeLisi, 2009). This indicates that this problem is greater among the students in high levels of elementary schools and those in high schools and colleges as compared to those in the lower levels of the elementary school. However, this issue is equally problematic to all teachers regardless of the level of education they teach.

Identify the purpose of your research on the problem

This research is designed to achieve various purposes in the field of education. One of the purposes that this research would achieve is guiding the education policymakers in making policies. It also has the purpose of assisting school administrators in the school administration. This is because if the drug testing is allowed it will reduce the use of drugs by both the students and the teachers thus reducing misbehavior in those schools. This would make the administration task to be somehow simpler as compared to its current state. Another purpose that this research would achieve is breaking the controversy that exists on whether drug testing should be undertaken or not. This is because the research will be able to identify the side of the problem that outweighs the others as the most accurate solution to this problem.