Some supporters of drug testing might admit that the studies aren’t encouraging but nevertheless wonder what’s the harm in trying? Such thinking, however well intentioned, is part of a paternalistic pattern that strips students of their rights at every turn.

College officials, especially, have proven all-too-willing to crack down on free speech and due process on the thinnest of pretexts. Students are frequently told that they must self-censor in order to avoid hurting other people’s feelings. When they break these absurd rules, they are hauled before university-sanctioned kangaroo courts that don’t grant them the presumption of innocence (let alone legal representation).

But administrative neglect of students’ rights does not begin in college. It starts when school officials at any grade level decide that nebulous safety concerns are more important than the principles of a free society.

Schools of America: Don’t teach kids to expect arbitrary institutional mistreatment and eschew after-school interaction. It’s just not worth it.