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player ready...On the bright side, District 113 seniors and sophomores are reporting doing less cigarette smoking and using alcohol less compared to two years ago, according to new data from the Illinois Youth Survey.
But the survey also shows a significant number of Highland Park High and Deerfield High seniors report smoking marijuana, something that clearly had school board members concerned at Monday night’s meeting.
Of the 717 district seniors surveyed last spring, 34 percent said they used marijuana in the past 30 days, according to the survey results — compared to 24 percent among all Lake County 12th graders who took the survey.
“Why would our district be so much higher than the county?” school board member Julie Gordon said.
Several people in attendance murmured the word “money” in response to her question.
The Illinois Youth Survey is administered to gather data on topics including substance abuse, bullying, nutrition and violence, said Lea Bacci, assistant prevention coordinator for the Lake County Health Department. Districts are “highly encouraged” but not required to participate, Bacci said.
Even though it can be alarming, Bacci said, the data helps identify areas of need and inform next steps for communities. District 113’s numbers on marijuana use reflect both shifting cultural attitudes toward the drug and the demographics of the district.
“Part of it is being able to afford it,” Bacci said. “Part of it is access. And part of it is the interventions in the community.”
Almost 3,000 students in District 113 and its feeder middle schools took the survey last spring, said Superintendent George Fornero. In District 113 alone, 779 10th graders and 717 12th graders took the survey, officials said.
The recent changes in state law regarding medical marijuana are also influencing how teens perceive the effects of smoking pot, she said. And as students get older, they have more access.
The vast majority of sixth and eighth graders surveyed in District 113’s feeder middle schools perceived marijuana to be a risk of harm — at 93 percent and 87 percent, respectively, according to the 2014 data.
But a much smaller percentage of students in 10th and 12th grades perceived marijuana to be a risk at 58 percent and 43 percent, respectively, according to the data.
“We want them to understand that they can be harmed by marijuana, too,” Bacci said.
Other statistical takeaways from the survey:
*53 percent of seniors and 25 percent of sophomores surveyed said they drank alcohol in the past 30 days, down from the numbers in 2010 and 2012;
*Almost one-third — 31 percent — of District 113 12th graders surveyed said they had an episode of binge drinking in the past two weeks, a decrease from the two previous years of data;
*Five percent of seniors surveyed said they smoked cigarettes in the past 30 days, down from 11 percent in 2012;
*Six percent of 12th graders surveyed said they’ve used hallucinogens/LSD and ecstasy/MDMA in the past year;
*26 percent of seniors surveyed said they had smoked pot and then drove a vehicle in the past year.
Fornero underscored several statistics that indicated a communication gap between kids and their parents as students get older, a lack of continued emphasis on rules and expectations.
The final statistic he pointed out: 56 percent of 12th graders said they wanted their parents to be more involved in their lives.
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“We have to continue the conversation with our 12th graders. … Research has shown the strongest deterrent to any kind of substance abuse is parental disapproval,” Fornero said.
The survey is administered by the Center for Prevention Research and Development, which is part of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois. The county health departments act as liaisons between the center and the school districts, Bacci said.