Students in grades 6-12 who have experimented with illegal drugs and alcohol most often used the substances in the home, not in school, a 17 -state survey released here last week indicates.
Students least often reported using drugs and alcohol at school, according to the yearlong survey of 40,000 schoolchildren. On the other hand, more than 25 percent of students in grades 6-8 reported using alcohol or illicit drugs at home, while older students described “a friend’s house” as the most popular place.
The survey-conducted by the Parents Resource Institute for Drug Education, or PRIDE, an Atlanta- based nonprofit organization focused on the prevention of drug abuse-also found that students most often reported using alcohol or drugs on weeknights or weekends.
Only about 1 percent of the students reported that they used alcohol during school; about 2 percent reported they used marijuana during school.
The survey results indicate a need to refocus drug-prevention efforts away from the schools, said Thomas Gleaton, director of PRIDE: “The educational process in drug-prevention efforts must begin at home, in the neighborhood and in the larger community.”
Although drug and alcohol abuse is also a school problem, he noted, “unless we start earlier and consider sources other than schools to convince children of the dangers of drugs, we cannot expect the problem to improve.
Among the study’s other key findings:
