Police should make decisions on how students who are found to be involved with drugs are treated.

A number of schools have recently dealt with drugs-related problems. Their approaches have varied from counselling to expulsion, but parents have in some cases claimed that the actions have been too lenient and have questioned why the Police were not brought in.

The fact that three of the schools have been private schools with reputations for discipline and high academic standards should come as no surprise. Drugs permeate all areas of society and teenagers, regardless of their backgrounds, will experiment due to peer pressure, youthful rebellion, alienation and a range of other influences.

That does not excuse their behaviour. But the question of how to deal with the issue is complicated and the range of drug offences with which schools have to deal will vary from a one-off experiment to a student selling drugs on school grounds. Each case needs to be dealt with on its merits within the bounds of the school's drug policy.

Saltus' approach seems to be a reasonable one. Where the school has reason to believe that students are using drugs, they are tested and if the test is positive, they receive counselling.

If the counselling is successful, the students can get on with their education without a mark against them. In the event that it is not and there is a recurrence of the problem, then the school expels them.

That is the right approach. It combines sensitivity with discipline and the school body is well aware of what actions will be taken.

The aim is to produce responsible and productive graduates, not to give up on students when they make a single mistake and put them in the hands of the courts.

Mr. Smith is right when he says that every school, public and private, should have a clear policy on the issue. Students and parents have to know the consequences of their actions.

And he is correct when he says that the school should have the first chance to deal with the problem because it is closest to it. Bringing in an outside agency which has no awareness of the nuances of the situation should come later, if the school judges it to be necessary.

That is not to say that the Police have no role to play. If the school judges the situation is beyond its ability to deal with it, then the Police should be called in.

Schools act in loco parentis during school hours and, like parents who find their child is involved in drugs, they have the right to decide how to deal with it first.