School year 2020-2021 was extraordinarily challenging for schools, educators, parents, and students. Youth were separated from friends, extracurricular activities, and classrooms. Additionally, students were distanced from essential school staff members who are sources of support, compassion, and encouragement. During this time, students have reported increased levels of stress and anxiety, interruptions in sleep and eating…
The Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey measures drug and alcohol use and related attitudes among adolescents nationwide–11,821 students from 112 public and private schools participated in 2020. This year’s data was collected right before school closures due to the coronavirus pandemic. The sample size is therefor smaller than in previous years, but doesn’t necessarily reflect…
If you’ve wondered if prevention programs can actually make a difference here is some encouraging news: new data show that more youth today have healthier behaviors than youth of 25 years ago. Data from the Youth Behavior Risk Surveillance Survey, released by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), shows that children are increasingly…
Scared straight programs. Whether you’ve seen mocked-up drunken driving crash scenes with bloodied teens playing “dead” or watched drug danger school assemblies, you may be familiar with these programs designed to frighten kids into good behavior. But do scare tactics work for preventing substance abuse and other risky behaviors?