High Pressure Front
Teenagers Weather Substance Use Pressures
It’s the talk in the hallway, especially before and after weekends. Where can you find the parties? Who got wasted and at what party? Who got trashed and did something hilarious? Oh, you missed it? Catch the highlights on Facebook.
Despite the student rumor mill’s unspoken message that drunk is more fun than sober, and a collective perception among Barrington High School students that 58 percent of their peers are using a drug (alcohol, marijuana, or tobacco) the reality of the amount of substance use is far more encouraging than the perception. The 58 percent perception of substance use was documented in a peer-to-peer produced and managed substance use survey conducted in May by Quintessential Barrington’s youth editorial team – all BHS journalism students – who raised this topic as one of the leading issues they deal with, and wanted to present in this student-focused issue of the magazine.
The 2008 Illinois Youth Survey (IYS) data, provided by Barrington High School from a survey initiated by the Lake County Health Department and Community Health Center, showed facts about actual substance use that don’t match up with what the students believe and are feeling.
Students answered IYS questions about whether they used drugs in a 30-day period prior to the survey, a window of time considered a good indicator of regular use. Here is the comparison with that data and peer data:
Perception about student drug use sourced from BHS student peer-to-peer survey at school:
42 percent of students are not using a drug on a regular basis (alcohol, marijuana, tobacco) at Barrington High School
Facts about student substance use at BHS sourced from the 2008 Illinois Youth Survey (note: 2010 IYS survey results are not in as of press date):
- 60 percent of students are not using alcohol
- 80 percent are not using marijuana
- 88 percent are not using tobacco
Perception versus reality
Perception can play an important role in how a teen decides what “normal” is. The IYS data revealed another disturbing belief: more BHS sophomores and seniors think they would be seen as “cool” if they dabbled in the three most common drugs at BHS: alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco.
BHS social worker Brenda Nelson said the Illinois Youth Survey offers proof that “not everyone is doing it,” a key piece of information for students for whom, she said, “drinking or not drinking is a central question in their social life” and “a major identity issue.”
The knowledge that their choice to abstain is a popular one can be challenged by overarching substance use messages from adults – on TV, in music, parties at home, the summer beer tents – that using substances is the best way to socialize. And the messages by friends to use (or not) play a role just second in level of influence to what students report is most valuable and critical to them: that their parents maintain an ongoing dialogue about substance use with them – even when they do not appear to want the input.
The student feedback says those messages need to be brought up earlier than high school. And some students said that their daily dialogue ritual at home, before heading off to school, plays a positive role. Healthy boundaries set by parents, supported with regular reminders of those boundaries help keep the message top of mind. While there are many parents who pay close attention to maintaining a dialogue about substance use and setting clear boundaries, according to peer survey responses, there are too many mixed messages on the topic. From positive daily messages to parents who tell their child “I don’t want to hear about it,” there is a significant range in the community about whether substance use is acceptable.
When asked what parents and the school could do to help prevent or stop substance use, one student said, “stressing that you’re not alone in staying drug and alcohol free.”
“Kids coming into high school sometimes think they have no other choice than to drink to be seen as cool, to fit-in,” Nelson said. “For a lot of people, it’s a very unexamined assumption that it’s just a rite of passage, that it’s just going to happen.”
The peer survey conducted by students in May revealed that while some BHS students reported feeling no pressure to use, many said they did and pointed to their own acquaintances and even siblings as the biggest source:
- “At this age, your friend’s approval is a lot more important than your parent’s approval,” one teen said.
- “If my friends are doing it, I want to,” said a senior.
- One freshman said he is tempted to use “when other kids ask me about it or tell their stories about it.”
- A junior said, “If people are doing it at a party, then you think differently and think it’s okay.”
- Another student confided that when “some adults make it seem like no big deal, that’s a huge influence.”
How’s the dialogue at home?
The peer survey revealed that students value honest conversation with their parents, that they want and need their parents’ help, their trust, and their validation when they make good choices. Students also said that just because they stand-up to the pressure to use, doesn’t mean they don’t still feel the effects.
One parent reported during a focus group of the Barrington Area Drug Prevention Coalition that her daughter was asked at a party “Are you leaving soon?” by kids who were ready to break out the booze.
Kirsten Neptun, a coalition member, said that parents have also asked teen non-drinkers to leave parties they were hosting, presumably before alcohol was served.
But sometimes the substance-free kids are invited to parties and they’re expected to set a good example. “Your cool if you just be yourself,” said one girl, a freshman. “A lot of kids don’t get that.”
Parents feel peer pressure, too
Kids feel pressure to be cool but so do parents who worry that not only will they be ostracized by other parents for blowing the whistle on underage drinking, but that their own children will also suffer social consequences.
“Parents feel pressure to let the party happen, to turn a blind eye,” said Erin Art, a prevention services specialist for the Lake County Health Department and Community Health Center. “Parents tell us they feel they’re the only ones who want to step-in. Some of them feel they’re the only ones willing to say no.”
Such perceptions can isolate parents who might otherwise band together to change community norms on substance abuse. “It comes down to parents supporting each other and forming a united front,” Art said.
“Parents need to talk to each other,” said Liz Nelson, who works with Art. “They need to make that call: Will there be alcohol at the party? It’s an awkward conversation to have.”
Art and Nelson are researching how to form a parent network. They foresee older parents who “have made it through” acting as a resource for “newbies.” Other strategies they and the coalition are employing include media and email campaigns, and environmental scans in which the overall community message on teen drug use is assessed.
“There are lots of things we can do that are grassroots,” Nelson said. “If kids are getting consistent messages from parents, other kids, business owners, neighbors, their school – that drinking is not the norm - then they will start to realize they don’t need to drink to fit in.”
Barrington High administrators are anxious to see the results of the 2010 Illinois Youth Survey. Expected by fall, the new data will tell the school if efforts like alcohol-free prom activities, new leadership groups and stepped-up education, as well as new state and municipal social-host liability laws are having an impact. Community cohesiveness is in large part the solution.
“All too often we blame others” said BHS Principal Steve McWilliams. “It’s a law enforcement issue. It’s a parent issue. It’s a school issue. The reality is, when we work together on the issue, we’re more successful. We all need to play a role and not be territorial.” McWilliams suggests that students would respond to community “trendsetters,” adults closer to high school age, people “off the beaten path,” who would reinforce the importance of staying drug- and alcohol-free.
“It’s important to get the message from someone you can relate to,” said one student.
What do BHS students wish their parents understood about the choice to use or not to use? “That it’s harder than when they were here,” a freshman boy said.
“That I’m not perfect,” said a freshman girl. “That I drink a lot,” said a senior boy. “That not all of us use that stuff,” said another.