Subj: UK: School says sniffer dog is UK first in fight on drugs



Date: 20 Apr, 1999



Source: Scotsman, The  (UK)







ubject: School says sniffer dog is UK first in fight on drugs  

Author: IAN SHOESMITH  





A HEADMASTER is using a sniffer dog to combat drugs at his 

school, it was revealed yesterday, and the idea, borrowed 

from schools in the US, has already been a success.



Two 15-year-old boys at Bramhall High School in Stockport, 

Greater Manchester, have been found with cannabis and 

suspended.



The head teacher, John Peckham, said he reserved the right 

to continue with the spot checks and believed his school was 

the first in the UK to copy a practice widely used in the 

US.



He denied that the dog's introduction would send out the 

message that his school, in a prosperous suburb , suffered 

from drug abuse. "Every school in the country has a problem 

with drugs, ours is no better or worse than any other," Mr 

Peckham said.



"We see this as being part of a comprehensive strategy to 

reduce the harm that drugs cause to young people. Just as 

the fear of breath tests deters many adults from drinking 

and driving, so the possibility of being caught in school 

with an illegal drug will also act as a deterrent for many 

young people."



Steve Warren said his firm, Sovereign Security, was first 

called into the school in December after Mr Peckham heard 

about sniffer dogs from a friends who used to work for 

Greater Manchester Police. The normal working environment of 

his dog, Scuba, was in nightclubs.



Despite two letters of complaint from concerned parents, the 

response has been broadly favourable. The chairwoman of 

Bramhall High School's governors, Suzanne Wyatt, was 

confident her school's reputation would not suffer in the 

eyes of parents.



But the policy was met with apprehension by Stockport's 

chief education officer, Max Hunt. He said the sight of a 

sniffer dog might worry younger pupils at the school, which 

has 1,450 children aged 11 to 16.



Reaction of pupils was mixed. Daniel Hyde, 16, said he was 

shocked to see the golden labrador sniffing around his 

school. While welcoming the tough stance on drugs, he added: 

"I don't think it's done much for trust between staff and 

the students."



Rachel Young, 13, backed her headmaster's tough policy on 

drug users, saying: "They know that teachers are aware of 

people bringing drugs into the school. You don't want young 

kids getting forced into drugs and getting hooked on them."