As promised, here is the prompt for your persuasive argument as to why the school should not institute the planned drug testing policy. Be sure to support your argument with a clear statistical analysis.
A survey was conducted by the local newspaper in your community. The survey sampled
students in your school about the use of drugs. It stated that through the anonymous
survey that 12% of the students indicated that they experimented with or currently use
drugs. The survey has alarmed the community. Parents and community members are
very concerned. The school board has been discussing the issue of drugs. They want to
take strong action.
You have just learned that the school board is considering requiring a drug test for all
the 1,200 students who attend your school. A test would be given twice a year. If a
student failed the drug test, then the student would be expelled from school.
Most of the students are upset and nervous about such a test. They are saying, “How do
we know the tests are accurate?” “What if you are taking medication for some ailment,
will that indicate that you are taking illegal drugs?” “What happens if you get a false
positive reading?” “How long after you take a drug will the test show positive?” “What
if you stopped taking a prescribed drug for more than three months, will you still test
positive?”
You want to be a friend to your school and classmates. You know that this drug test will
cause a crisis at your school. The school board feels a lot of pressure to take action. You
want to stop the school board from voting for this drug test. You know it will take a
convincing argument to change their minds. If you are not careful in your presentation, it
may look like you are defending drug use. That is the last thing that you need to have
happen. You must find a way to defend the innocent and show that some students may
get hurt by the test.
You decide to research the test. You call the drug testing company that the school board
is considering hiring and ask for documentation on their tests. In their literature, it states
that the tests are accurate 96% of the times they are administered.
You start to consider the information you have available. If the newspaper survey was
accurate that 12% take drugs, how many of the students at your school supposedly take
drugs? How many students are drug-free? If all the students are required to take the drug
test, how many of the students’ tests will be accurate? How many of the tests will be
inaccurate? How many students who do not take drugs will have a test that wrongly
shows that they do take drugs? How many of the students who use drugs (either
experimentally or regularly) will have an accurate test?
You are getting ready to present your argument to the board. Write an open letter to the
board using mathematics to argue against general drug testing for all students.
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