Faversham, England ? A British school has launched a pilot program where students as young as 11 are subjected to random drug tests – a project that has generated interest in Washington and fed a civil liberties debate on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Abbey School in this southeastern market town is testing students by mouth swab for traces of heroin, cocaine and marijuana. Parents must give permission for the testing, and even then students can refuse.

Former headmaster Peter Walker, who started the program, gave up his school job to become Britain’s official ambassador for drug testing. He recently went to Washington to give a presentation to John Walters, director of the White House drug policy office.

Since the program began in January 2005, only one out of nearly 600 students has tested positive for marijuana – a record Walker attributes to students steering clear of drugs because of the tests.

Critics say the tests violate students’ privacy and could open the door to lawsuits. As the program expands, some say children will find their rights to object to the tests eroded.

Rights activists say drug testing in schools is another infringement on privacy in Britain, where closed-circuit television cameras are ubiquitous and lawmakers are debating identity cards that would store biometric data such as fingerprints or iris scans.

Liberty, one of Britain’s largest civil rights groups, says testing could wrongly turn students into suspects if they refuse. The American Civil Liberties Union says the tests are imprecise and violate students’ basic rights.

“Students have to reveal medical information that would explain why certain test results might come up – the school is then in possession of private medical information,” said Graham Boyd, an ACLU lawyer. “You could have teachers leaving it in a folder, open on a desk – and it could include information about mental health or birth control prescriptions. That’s nobody’s business, and especially for someone who is an adolescent.”

This month, head teachers at just under 100 schools in the county of Kent will consider whether to implement drug testing. After that, the data will be evaluated by the national Department for Education and Skills and Kent’s municipal government. Supporters say they will push to expand the program nationally if results show it has been a success.