Survey reveals alarming numbers of local
youth engaging in risky behavior
According to the results of a Youth Risk Behavior survey conducted on local high school students, an alarming number of young people are experimenting with risky behavior that include alcohol and drug use, cigarette smoking, and sexual activity.
The survey results were presented during a meeting of the Governor’s Strategic Prevention Framework Advisory Commission which revealed that 46.6% of the 3,625 public high schools students questioned said they have had at least one drink of alcohol.
In addition, 13.9% of the students admitted that they tasted alcohol before the age of 13.
Another 18.3% claimed to have had five or more drinks within a couple of hours.
According to the survey 13.5% of the participants said they got their alcohol from a store, while 9% of the students said they consumed alcohol on school property.
With regards to the use of marijuana, 17.6% of students claimed to have tried marijuana once, and 5.3% said they tried marijuana on school property.
In addition to marijuana, the survey also questioned the use of cocaine, heroine, methamphetamine (“ice”), and ecstasy. Surprisingly, 5.4% of the students claimed to have used cocaine, 5.7% said they have used ice, while 5% claimed to have used ecstasy.
More than half of the students, 56.8% said they have puffed one or two cigarettes and 16.8% said they smoked before 13.
Over 9% said they have smoked 20 or more cigarettes and 9.6% said they have smoked on school property.
As far as sexual behavior, 32% of students claimed to have had sexual intercourse, 7.4% said they had sex before they were 13, and 41.2% of the participants said they used a condom during their most recent engagement in sexual intercourse.
The role of the Strategic Prevention Framework Advisory Commission, according to Governor Togiola, is to help forge policies that deal with mounting social problems in the territory.
One of the major goals of the Commission is to work on strategies for the prevention of substance abuse and other social problems prevalent in the territory, especially among young people.
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