Big Brother goes to high school.

Every day, public schools in America are becoming safer.

Walk-through metal detectors have been in use in many inner city schools for over a decade, while hand-held desectors and random weapons screenings are more popular on smaller, rural campuses. They're expensive, but they're thorough. And we want nothing but the best when it comes to the safety of our children.

Under various circumstances, schools across the country are requiring students to submit to body searches. The Washington state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union recently settled a case in which fifteen students were strip-searched by school personnel looking for a missing $100. Commented one of the students, "It felt like we were criminals. It was humiliating." Kids say the darndest things, don't they?

In late 1995, bills were introduced in several states that would allow schools to resume use of corporal punishment in order to "maintain discipline." Because some school officials and doctors spoke out against them, none of these proposals became law. Backers are disappointed but now realize that society isn't quite ready yet for biblical solutions. They plan to wait three or four years before trying again.

The war on drugs is being vigorously waged in our public schools, as shown by an October 1996 story by the Associated Press. A thirteen-year-old honor student in Ohio was suspended ten days from Junior high school for accepting two Midol tablets from a classmate. The school's "zero tolerance" policy makes no distinctions--prescription or nonprescription, legal or illegal. The student could reduce her suspension time only by undergoing "drug screening" (initial cost, $100; several subsequent "counseling" sessions, $90 each). She and the friend who gave her the tablets were ordered to undergo a "drug evaluation" or face expulsion. Both girls said this hardly seemed fair for two unswallowed Midols, but they're just kids. When they're older, they'll understand why it was so important for officials to make no exceptions.

In a 1995 Supreme Court ruling permitting mandatory random drug testing of students participating in sports and other extracurricular activities, the Court specifically said that those who refuse testing can be barred from participation. Students in at least twenty two states are now required to submit or be excluded from many school activities. To some students, this seems unjust. But to quote the father of a star athlete at one Washington high school, "We're supposed to prepare students for the world of work. On the door of Albertson's [food store] it says, 'We're going to drug test you before we hire you, so don't apply if you do drugs.'"

Kids love dogs, right? Having a drug sniffing dog check out their clothing, lockers, purses, and book bags isn't nearly as upsetting as searches by police. The dogs are usually brought in without notice each semester. Students are per misted to play with them after the work is finished. It's important to turn these activities into positive experiences whenever we can. After all, there's no reason kids should be upset by these little safety precautions.

Random locker searches--fairly commonplace in inner-city schools--are being increasingly employed nationwide. These searches don't often turn up drugs or "other contraband," primarily because students no longer leave any personal items in their lockers. But school officials know it is important to continue the searches anyway; students need to be reminded that zero tolerance means zero tolerance.

Methods being used to rid public schools of alcohol include bans on clothing with alcohol-related messages and the use of breath alcohol analysis machines. A handy $500, hand-held device detects one's level of alcohol. Any amount detected results in a suspension of a few days to a full semester, and most schools require offenders to undergo a "substance-abuse assessment and treatment program" before returning to school. When asked what would happen if a student refused to take a breath test, the vice-principal at a Washington school replied, "That's never happened. But if it did, my line would be, 'I can do this or the police can do this.'"

Then there are the surveillance cameras. System manufacturers recommend that medium-sized campuses install at least twenty-five--in classrooms, hallways, gyms, cafeterias, parking lots; on football fields and on each school bus. Surveillance systems are being wired into many new school facilities during construction. Said one student in a Texas district, "Everywhere you go, there's a camera right above you, watching. They're invading our privacy. It makes it feel like jail." When he's older, he'll realize how much safer he was because of those cameras.

A growing number of schools are hiring security staff to police student behavior and arranging daily visits by police officers. Kids say it makes them feel that the campus isn't "theirs" anymore. But they'll soon realize that the police are their friends and adjust to their presence.

President Clinton wants to require kids to wear uniforms in school. A growing number of public schools have already adopted mandatory uniform policies. Others, failing to sell parents and students on uniforms, have banned the wearing of certain "gang-related" colors (and certain colors in combination), as well as certain words and symbols. The students didn't like this at first, complaining that wearing uniforms takes away their individuality. But they're beginning to see the advantages of everyone dressing the same.

In order to keep "outsiders and troublemakers" from "sneaking onto campus," policies requiring students to wear identification are gaining acceptance among educators nationwide. In school districts in South Carolina, Texas, and New York, such badges--which include an assigned number--are already in use. In some districts, they also display bar codes, necessary when checking out library books, buying school lunches, and getting messages. In pilot programs, administrators report that some students resisted at first, "but now, most kids like them" You know how kids are. They'll be fine once they get used to putting them on every morning.

High schools in Houston, Texas, have come up with the perfect way to cut down on search time: require students to carry only see-through purses, backpacks, bookbags, and so forth. Last November, a minority of incorrigible students circulated petitions against this policy. Every school has a few troublemakers who don't want to abide by the rules.

Censorship of school newspapers and other student publications has become commonplace since the Supreme Court's 1988 Hazelwood decision, which held that school officials may censor student publications as they see fit and this does not violate the rights of students. Student journalists and writers faced with this situation often call on organizations like the Washington Coalition Against Censorship. But they're just kids; they don't know the real world. Experiencing forms of censorship teaches young journalists that success in their future careers will require that they accept the advice and correction of experienced editors.

And here's a truly innovative idea: let's take away students' drivers licenses if they drop out of school before age eighteen! Why didn't we think of this long ago? It's already being declared a success in West Virginia, and similar laws have been adopted in Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. Since the most frequently cited reasons for drop ping out of school are the need to earn money and to care for a child, this plan might seem cruel and unfair now, but they'll thank us for it when they realize it was for their own good.

The list of safety measures being employed in America's public schools goes on and on: paying kids cash rewards for turning in fellow students suspected of using drugs, narcotics agents posing as students, searches of students' cars in school parking lots, and the like. For kids, school isn't preparation or rehearsal for life. School is life. We know their experiences there leave a profound impression upon their young, developing minds. That's why their secondary school years are the ideal time to help them make the adjustments necessary to be successful in our society. They may resist, but it's natural for youths to rebel against authority. Only by being firm and consistent can we assure that the next generation of Americans will become model citizens.

I need only look in the mirror to realize how truly important this is. None of these measures were employed when I was in school, and look what an in corrigible troublemaker I turned out to be.

Barbara Dority is president of Humanists of Washington, executive director of the Washington Coalition Against Censor ship, and cochair of the Northwest Feminist Anti-Censorship Task Force.