Teen perception survey sparks concern

DEBBY JONES, prevention specialist for YouthThink, leads an exercise for eighth graders from District 21 and St. Mary’s Academy during “Do Something Day” that challenged them to become more socially and emotionally literate so they could proactively deal with stress and develop a healthy lifestyle.

By RaeLynn Ricarte

#Fifty percent of adults get drunk once a week and 60 percent use marijuana — that’s the perception of a majority of 425 middle school students in The Dalles, according to Debby Jones, prevention specialist for YouthThink. 

#“They are hearing this somewhere so I think we have to peel the onion back and find out what’s making them think that way,” she said. “We need to try to find out why our youth believe what they do and what we can learn from them.”

#When asked if she thought students might have been responding to the survey as a joke, Jones said the same model is used for questioning as followed by the state, which ensured accurate results.

#“I think surveys are accurate,” she said. “These are nationally recognized and done year after year so they have a way of asking the same question several times in different ways to ensure the answer is truthful. “

#Jones delivered the results of the perception survey to The Dalles City Council Oct. 12. 

#She wanted to give them information for consideration when they decide whether or not to opt-out of allowing recreational pot stores to open in town.

#Currently, marijuana can only be sold in dispensaries but state laws will be in place to accommodate recreational sales in other locations by mid-2016.

#“If young people get started using marijuana under the age of 12, they are more likely to smoke and drink also,” said Jones.

#She said YouthThink does not oppose medicinal use of marijuana or people growing their own plants for private use. 

#However, she said commercial sales of pot at retail outlets might make it easier for teens to obtain the drug, and are likely to increase peer pressure.

#“They see people sitting outside restaurants here drinking and think it would make them look cool,” said Jones. “I think that seeing stores selling marijuana for recreational use will have that same effect. 

#She said it is important to teach children that the majority of people do not abuse alcohol or drugs. 

#She that is especially important to point out when students who admit to consuming alcohol admit that their first drink, on average, was at 10 years and 8 months of age. 

#“The majority of our sixth graders are not drinking but, when they do, it’s at a younger age,” said Jones.

#She said the results of a 2013-14 Oregon student wellness survey of sixth, eighth and 11 graders showed a higher monthly rate of drug use in Wasco County than the state average. 

#Jones said adding those results to the perception survey that involved six classes of students shows the need for a community conversation about prevention issues.“Even though children believe the majority of adults are abusing alcohol and/or drugs, more than 90 percent also believe their parents would be disappointed if they did,” she said. 

#According to Jones, area youth also tend to think that alcohol, tobacco and drug use among their peer is much higher than statistics show and YouthThink would like to find out why they have that mindset. 

#To get the truth out YouthThink has launched the “Most of us Don’t” campaign to encourage students to re-think their perceptions. They are also being encouraged to practice “social and emotional literacy” to learn proactive ways to deal with stress and negative feelings so they can develop a healthy lifestyle. 

#“We’re trying to take learning styles into account with our public awareness campaign and we have a lot of different strategies to us,” said Jones. 

#“We’ve just got to tap into how their brain works — they are very good at letting us know – and move forward with that.”

#She said in the course of the community conversation about these issues, adults will be challenged to explain what “drinking responsibly” or “using marijuana responsibly” really means. 

#“We want to take the veil off this conversation and give families factual information that will empower them,” said Jones.

#She said the city’s contribution in 2015-16 of $13,000 has helped YouthThink fulfill its mission, something she wanted to thank the council for on her visit earlier this month. “We all just need to be working together because saying, ‘Just don’t do it,’ doesn’t work,” Jones said. “And raising a generation that is going to be healthy is also an economic development issue.”