1998 CASA National Survey of Teens, Teachers and Principals Joseph A. Califano, Jr. and Alyse Booth September 1998 KEY FINDINGS THE DRUG-PLAGUED WORLD OF OUR TEENS Teens continue to rank drugs as the single most important problem facing people their age. Teachers and principals say bad parents or family problems are the biggest problem, yet kids rank parents 10th. Just 8% of 12-year-olds know a drug dealer at school; by the time they reach age 17, more than half (56%) do. Awareness of illegal drugs is widespread. Two out of five middle school students and two out of three high school students know a friend or classmate who has used acid, cocaine or heroin. The social usage of marijuana is extensive. 51% of 15- to 17-year-olds have been to a party that featured pot in the last six months. 26% of 15-year- olds, 30% of 16-year-olds and 35% of 17-year-olds say a majority of the parties they have attended in the past six months had pot available. Those numbers increase to 38%, 42% and 54% for parties with alcohol. More than a third (37%) of older teens (15- to 17-year-olds) have personally seen drugs sold on school grounds, as have 16% of 12- to 14-year-olds. 45% of high school students say they could buy marijuana in an hour or less; only 14% say they couldn't buy it at all. 26% of teens say they could buy hard drugs such as acid, cocaine or heroin within a day. 84% of 12-year-olds would report a student using illegal drugs at school compared to only 31% of 16-year-olds and 37% of 17-year-olds. 80% of 12-year-olds would report a student selling illegal drugs; only 27% of 15- to 17-year-olds would. Almost two-thirds of 12-year-old smokers cite their friends as the reason they started; peer influence declines the older teens get. Almost one in four teen smokers (22%) say they continue to smoke because they are hooked/addicted. FROM 12 TO 13: THE TURNING POINT YEAR The transition from age 12 to 13 now marks the most dramatic increase in kids' exposure to drugs and a decisive shift in attitude about drugs and parental involvement in their lives. Between age 12 and 13: The proportion of teens who say they could buy marijuana if they wanted to more than triples, from 14% to 50%. The percentage of teens who say they know a student at their school who sells illegal drugs almost triples, from 8% to 22%. A 13-year-old is almost 3 times likelier to know a teen who uses acid, cocaine or heroin than a 12-year-old and 3 times likelier to be able to buy acid, cocaine or heroin. The share of students who would be unwilling to report a fellow student they personally saw using illegal drugs more than triples from 15% to 48%. The percentage of teens who say they rely most on their parents opinions when making important decisions drops by almost a third from 58% to 42%. PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT AND RELIGIOUS LIFE As in past years, CASA identified risk factors that correlate with teen smoking, drinking and using drugs related to religious life and parental involvement in their lives: Teens who smoked and drank in the past month and used marijuana are less likely to attend religious services regularly; only 8% of teens who attended services four times a month smoked, 19% drank and 13% smoked marijuana compared with 22% of teens who smoked, 32% who drank and 39% who smoked marijuana who attended religious services less than once a month. Teens who eat dinner often with their parents are also less likely to abuse substances: 6% of smokers, 20% of drinkers and 12% of pot smokers eat dinner with their parents 6 or 7 times a week compared to 24% of smokers, 35% of drinkers and 35% of pot smokers who eat dinner with parents 0-2 times a week. 22% of smokers always tell their parents where they are going on the weekend compared with 59% of non-smokers; 44% of pot smokers always tell their parents where they are after school compared with 61% of non-pot smokers. 21% of pot smokers rely most on opinions of parents compared with 45% of teens who never smoked pot and 31% of pot smokers hang out with friends after school compared with 17% of non-pot smokers. THE TEACHER, PRINCIPAL AND TEEN DISCONNECT There is a severe disconnect between school principals and the students they supervise when it comes to the drug issue. From perceptions of drug existence to drug use, teens see drugs virtually everywhere and principals see them virtually nowhere. 11% of principals, 35% of teachers and 66% of students say their school is NOT drug-free. While only 15% of high school principals say the drug problem is getting worse, 41% of teachers and 51% of high school students believe it is getting worse. 27% of high school principals and 26% of high school teachers believe most students have tried pot, compared to 71% of their students. In high school, 67% of principals say their schools are smoke-free compared to 46% of teachers and 14% of students agree. Half of high school teachers (50%) believe that a student who uses marijuana every weekend can still do well in school compared with 48% of principals and 23% of students. While 48% of teens say they receive no more than 2 hours of anti-drug education compared to 6% of principals and 12% of teachers, 69% of principals, 50% of teachers and only 27% of teens say students receive 10+ hours of anti-drug education. THE SMOKING, DRINKING, AND DRUG CONNECTION Teens who use one substance are far more likely to use another. Compared to teens who don't smoke: Teens who smoke are 5« times likelier to have tried marijuana , 6 times likelier to get drunk at least once a month and have drunk alcohol on 3 or more occasions in the past month and 3 times likelier to try an illegal drug in the future than teens who don't smoke. Compared to teens who have not smoked pot: Teens who have smoked pot are 15 times likelier to have smoked cigarettes in the past month, 4 times likelier to have drunk alcohol in the past month, 9 times likelier to get drunk at least once a month and 3« times likelier to try an illegal drug in the future. Compared to teens who have not drunk alcohol in the past month: Teens who drank alcohol in the past month are 5 times likelier to smoke cigarettes, 4 times likelier to smoke marijuana and 3 times likelier to try an illegal drug in the future. 87% of the students who hang out mostly with kids who drink also have friends that smoke pot. Download an Adobe Acrobat version of this report at: http://www.casacolumbia.org/usr_doc/4760.PDF *The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University is neither affiliated with, nor sponsored by, the National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association (also known as "CASA" ) or any of its member organizations, or any other organizations with the name of "CASA". © 1996, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University