Amid the backdrop of the deaths this week of two teens linked to drinking, a report released today by a regional health foundation shows a drop in alcohol use among area high school students.
The biennial report, the MetroWest Adolescent Health Survey, uses responses from questionaires sent to middle and high schools in MetroWest and Greater Milford by the MetroWest Community Health Care Foundation. Introduced in 2006, the report now includes data from 2008, allowing the first look at possible trends.
Between the two surveys, the proportion of high school students who reported drinking within a month of the questionnaire dropped from 42 percent to 39 percent.
Those using alcohol at some point in their lives, meanwhile, fell from 67 percent to 63 percent. And those recently consuming five or more drinks in a row binge drinking fell from 25 percent to 23 percent.
Click through to the Milford Daily News web site to down load the full report.
While the numbers are down for alcohol, they are up for marijuana. Given the recent tragedies involving local youth and drinking, clearly much work remains.
For my two cents; how much have parents/guardians changed their own behavior? They are the ones who are setting the example for the children to grow up with.
One quote I like makes this point:
"Our example to our children, to our families, and to the world around us is constant. The question is not whether or not anyone is watching, the question is what are they learning as they watch." Kirk Weisler
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