Boone County Schools hopes to enroll every high school student in the district this fall in a voluntary drug testing program with rewards for just saying “No.”
The district will launch Drug Free Clubs of America in all its schools this fall. The voluntary program is the latest iteration of efforts to discourage students from using drugs.
“Drug Free Clubs give students an opportunity to make a choice … the right choice,” Kathy Reutman, executive director of student services, said at a Rotary Club of Florence meeting at the Cincinnati Airport Hilton in Florence on June 6th .
The program empowers students to respond to peer pressure to take drugs by saying, “I can’t because I might get tested,” she explained. Perks such as a prom ticket or free movie come with positive drug tests and provide further motivation to say no.
Troubled by the number of drug-related deaths among young people, a group of firefighters in Cincinnati started Drug Free Clubs of America in 2005. More than 6,000 students enrolled in the program in 2016, according to the organization’s website.
Here’s how the program works:
· The student pays a $35 enrollment fee and takes a confidential drug test administered by local health professionals.
· If they pass the test, they receive a club ID card.
· They must take five random tests during the school year.
· Each time they pass the test, they can use their card to redeem rewards offered by at the school or local businesses.
Some parents don’t want to enroll their children in the program because of the cost and because they believe they won’t do drugs, Reutman noted.
“That’s not true,’’ she said. “Peer pressure is so great.” “We have children as young as the fourth grade bringing drugs to school,” she added.
Reutman would like to see businesses and communities rally around the program by providing incentives or financial support to cover the cost of enrollment for those who cannot afford it. Thomas More College and Northern Kentucky University already are working with the organization to provide scholarship aid for students who go drug-free all four years of high school, she said.
Reutman believes Drug Free Clubs could have tremendous impact on throttling the drug problem in Northern “if every kid in Boone County and every kid in the region enrolled and got a card.”
In other words, 100 percent of Northern Kentucky students.
A recording of this presentation and past meetings of the Rotary Club of Florence is available on the club’s YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTYU1WxEW0o
The Rotary Club of Florence, Kentucky (serving all of Boone County) is a community service organization focusing on “service above self”. The club meets weekly on Mondays at noon at the Hilton Airport located at 7373 Turfway Road. Guests are always welcome. To learn more about upcoming speakers and events, please visit the club’s website at www.florencerotary.org or follow their Facebook page.
#ServiceAboveSelf #FloRo #PeopleofAction #JustSayNo #DrugFreeClubs #Boone2020
