Despite indications that most parents have their heads firmly planted in the sand (if not buried somewhere even less pleasant), 4 out of 5 high school students say they are regularly exposed to drugs in their schools. This is from a recently released report based on a survey was conducted by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University. The survey tracks the attitudes of teens towards drugs and alcohol.

The survey results that seem to be getting the most attention — “80% of the nation’s high school students and 44% of middle-schoolers have personally seen illegal drugs used or sold and/or students drunk or high on the grounds of their schools.”

For those of us in the EMS fields, this may not come as much of a surprise. Even in my supposedly protected rural reason, I am always taken aback by the number of overdose calls we get at local schools. The most important warning that comes from this report is that the parents seem to be completely unaware of the this increasing trend in their children’s schools. We can do two things:

1. Take care of our own first. Talk regularly and often with your own children about drugs in their schools. What drugs do they come in contact with? According to this survey, if they are in school, they have some awareness and should be able answer the question.
2. Get involved in your community education projects. Talk to your local police agencies about what drugs they are seeing more commonly on the street this year. Arrange to provide assistance to their school outreach programs with a demonstration of the life-saving techniques we will have to use in the case of an overdose.

By getting more involved now, before school starts, maybe we can avert a few of the overdoses that we know are just on the horizon. A little education and preparation go a long way!

Jamie, the Podmedic

[...] may be exposed to underage alcohol consumption as early as 4th or 5th grade! Last week I posted here about a study reporting the majority (80%) of teens had first hand knowledge of drugs in their [...]