teens adolescents percent risk

Substance Abuse In Students, Zero Tolerance In Schools

by Pernell1947 on Aug 21, 2010

Zero Tolerance policies and drug testing in schools may identify students in trouble but often
are used to identify children for expulsion. Our neglect to prevent and treat the problem of
substance abuse among students has profound and destructive implications

The more a student uses alcohol, marijuana and other drugs of abuse, the lower his grade point
average is likely to be. Alcohol-dependent youth fare worse on language and attention tests than
non-dependent youths. Heavy and binge drinkers between the ages of 12 and 17 are significantly
more likely than non-drinkers to say that their school work is poor (49.2 percent for heavy
drinkers, 44.7 percent for binge drinkers vs 27.5 percent for non-drinkers) and more than four
times likelier to say they cut classes or skip school.

Because their brains are still developing, teens who drink to excess may be destroying greater
mental capacity than older drinkers;...Read More >>