The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University has released the results of its 15th annual back-to-school survey, and what these results revealed may be a cause of concern for parents.
The teen survey showed that about a quarter – 27 percent (5.7 million) – of teens (aged 12 to 17) who attended public schools revealed that their schools were both drug- and gang-infected. A drug-infected school is defined as a school where “drugs are used, kept or sold on school grounds.”
Teens that are exposed to such an environment, the study revealed further, are: five times more likely to use marijuana; three times more likely to drink; twelve times more likely to smoke; three times more likely to be able to get marijuana within an hour or less; five times more likely to get marijuana within a day or less; and nearly five times more likely to have a friend or a classmate who uses illegal drugs such as acid, ecstasy, methamphetamine, cocaine or heroin.
In addition, the study showed that 46 percent of teens who attended public school said that gangs are present in their schools, while 47 percent said that there are drugs used, kept or sold in the school’s premises.
There is a difference, the study showed, in the situations in public and private schools. In comparison to public schools, only two percent of teens who attend private and religious schools report that there are gangs in their schools, while 78 percent report that their schools are drug-free.
Tags: school alcohol, school drugs, school gang, school marijuana, teen drugs, teen gang
