A Long Island high school is now requiring students to wear identification cards at all times while in school and to sign in and out of the bathroom every time they use the facilities.

Irene McLaughlin, principal of Northport High School, wrote in a back-to-school letter sent to parents (see below) that the moves are being taken in an attempt to cut down on disciplinary problems and to prevent students from missing a lot of class time. She said that the sign-in process at the bathrooms will be monitored constantly by staff members. “It is important to note,” she wrote, that bathrooms in the commons are “open for use all day, even through change of periods” and that student bathrooms “in the instructional hallways” will be open during class.

She also said she knew that the changes at the school — which is located in an affluent North Shore community where about 90 percent of the 2,100 students are white — were being met “with concern” by some parents and students but that it was important to institute these measures to maintain a safe environment at the school.

At a community forum held this past April about growing drug use among young people in the area, McLaughlin said that heroin and cocaine have not been found at the school but “booze and week” have, according to the Times of Northport.

Irene McLaughlin, principal of Northport High School confirmed that the epidemic has a presence at the high school and the administrators take action whenever possible. She was quoted as saying:

“We try to be proactive but it is challenging to reach each student and measure the effectiveness of a plan. We need to resist parenting out of guilt, learn to say ‘no,’ and make sure they understand why.”

In 2013, the school sent a letter to parents saying that the school had requested assistance from the Suffolk County Police Department in the form of random sweeps of student lockers by narcotics dogs. During each sweep, the letter says, the school is to be locked down, with students required to remain in class during the operation.

News 12 on Long Island posted a question on its Web site asking, “Do you think requiring high school students to sign in and out of the bathroom will prevent drug use in schools?” As of Wednesday morning, more than 70 percent of respondents said “no.”