Personal Injury Law

Drugs and Alcohol in Schools

By Megan Roth

"Approximately one-half of all high-school seniors in the U.S. admits to having used alcohol or illegal drugs during their high school years." Surprised? Don't be.

Alcohol and drug abuse are incredibly prevalent on school campuses across the nation and are affecting kids at younger ages than they have in the past. While I, myself have not taken issue with any illicit drugs (just meet me in person, you'll see my halo), I had classmates whose lives were town apart by drugs. I saw acquaintances arrested at high school sporting events, and I was present when a seventh grader had his stomach pumped after consuming more alcohol than a sumo wrestler could handle. Imagine - a seventh grader.he was just a child and he suffered from a binge-drinking experiment gone awry.

Unfortunately, this is part of the norm. In fact, middle-school aged children are among the most popular demographic to experiment with such substances. Why? Individuals in this age group aren't yet confident in themselves and it's difficult for them to say no because they don't want to be the odd-man-out. Students often reason: "everyone else is doing it, so why shouldn't I."

Well, truth be told, not everyone is doing it; unfortunately, however, a large number are. In fact, a 2006 survey found that 66.5% of high school seniors had consumed alcohol during the previous year and an astonishing 45.3% had used it within the previous month.

While the rates of usage seem alarmingly high (and for good reason - they are!), they have are actually down from years past. Similarly, the usage rates of illicit drugs have dropped. Though approximately 8% of high school seniors admit to having tried cocaine, there's been a .5% decline in in usage rates of this particular drug in the last year alone. In addition, the disapproval rate of experimenting with the drug has increased over a full percentage point (rising from 87.2% to 88.6% of students who openly oppose the substance).

The trends of usage in both alcohol and hard drugs make it clear that we, as a community, are doing something right. Ideally, there would be no students even considering use of any illegal substance; realistically, however, this isn't a possibility. All we can do is hope for the best and continue to inform students of the damaging effects such substances can have.

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on September 01, 2008 (boomark / email).