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Survey: Students' use of drugs, alcohol about average
By Preston Knight - pknight@nvdaily.com
WOODSTOCK -- Shenandoah County Public Schools pupils use drugs and alcohol at rates comparable to or below state and national averages.
The findings are included in a community needs assessment survey conducted last fall.
The school system received a grant from the Governor's Office for Substance Abuse Prevention to complete the survey, and George Banks, of Midlothian-based Positive Outcomes, administered it to 1,890 pupils in grades 6-12 in October and November.
Banks says in the report, which is available on the division's website (www.shenandoah.k12.va.us), that the county has use rates on par with state and national figures.
It "appears that most youth do not use and thus, the use of social norm campaigns are suggested," Banks states.
According to the report, 43.6 percent of the respondents have used alcohol in their lifetime, and 22.5 percent within the 30-day period before being surveyed. Other high prevalence figures for lifetime use were cigarettes (26.3 percent), marijuana (15.2 percent) and prescription pain relievers without a doctor's orders (14.2 percent).
Banks states that the latter is on the rise and bears tracking.
The past 30-day use percentages were 8.4 percent for cigarettes, 6.9 percent for marijuana and 5.5 percent for prescription drugs.
When broken into grade level results for the past 30 days, 53.3 percent of seniors drank alcohol, and the number dropped with each grade level to as low as 2.8 percent for sixth-grade students. As for tobacco use, 26.6 percent of seniors used, and again the number steadily decreased to a low mark of 0.3 percent for sixth-graders.
The survey appears to be mostly in agreement with one the county conducted in 2008, in which 2,302 pupils in the same grade levels reported the lowest use of cigarettes and beer since similar projects were undertaken beginning in 1988. Two years ago, 43.5 percent of high school students drank beer, and 27 percent smoked cigarettes.
Banks' report ensured it was receiving truthful answers by using four strategies, including eliminating the surveys of respondents who appeared to exaggerate their drug use and others who gave logically inconsistent patterns of drug use. For example, if a pupil stated he or she had used alcohol three to five times in the past 30 days, but had never used alcohol in his or her lifetime, that survey was not included.
The report also lists factors that protect pupils from or put them at risk of using drugs or alcohol. The highest-scoring protective factors were family attachment, family opportunities for positive social involvement and family rewards for such involvement. The biggest risk factors were poor family management, poor academic performance and low perceived risks of drug use.
Other numbers included in the survey are 16.5 percent of pupils attacking someone with the intent of causing harm, 14.7 percent being suspended from school, 7.6 percent being drunk or high at school and about 4 percent belonging to a gang.
An elementary survey also was conducted. It was administered to 354 fourth- and fifth-grade pupils in April and reported no tobacco use and 2.2 percent of fourth-grade pupils and 2.9 percent of those in fifth grade drinking alcohol. However, 15.2 percent of fifth-grade respondents said alcohol was easy to get, while only 3.3 percent of fourth-grade pupils say it's easy.
Additionally, 87.8 percent of fourth-graders say tobacco is harmful to one's health, and that figure dips slightly to 86.3 percent for alcohol. It rises to 88.5 percent for marijuana. For fifth-graders, the report states that roughly 94 percent agree that tobacco, alcohol and marijuana are harmful.
Among Banks' overall recommendations are prevention strategies and programs aimed at children in grades 4-7, along with strong reinforcement beginning in eighth grade, and targeting parents with prevention strategies, especially parents of high school students.
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