Prevention Connection: Risky Behaviors of Our Teens (Part 1)

The following is a guest column by Marilyn G. Belmonte of the Burlington Drug & Alcohol Task Force:

In January 2012, the Burlington Drug & Alcohol Task Force surveyed 914 Burlington High School students about risky adolescent behaviors.  The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) was administered with cooperation of the School Committee and high school administrators to determine local information on a wide range of topics including substance abuse, nutrition, sexual behaviors, violence, and depression.

The YRBS is a nationally recognized anonymous student survey created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Every two years, the federal government awards each state with funding to survey a random selection of communities in order to collect state data on risky teen behaviors.  Some communities, such as Burlington, apply for local grant money to administer the survey to its students in order to watch for increasing trends of dangerous behaviors.  The data can guide future prevention programs as well as measure the success of previous efforts.

The YRBS is considered to be a valid measurement tool of adolescent behaviors.  Studies show that teenagers are just as likely to tell the truth on anonymous surveys as adults.  The survey is designed to filter out random or false responses.

Good news!  In most sections of the survey, Burlington students reported healthier choices than the Massachusetts state average.  These areas include dating violence, carrying a weapon to school, alcohol use, and marijuana use.  For example, 30.1% of BHS students reported that they drank alcohol at least once in the past 30 days while the Massachusetts average is 44%.  10.3% of BHS students reported that they began drinking alcohol before the age of 13 while the state average is 17%. 

This is very good news for Burlington parents.  Studies show that the earlier children begin drinking, the greater the chance of them developing an alcohol disorder.  So the longer parents can postpone the start of drinking, the less likely their children will become dependent to alcohol.

One area of concern in relation to underage drinking is home parties where drinking is allowed by parents.  24.9% of students reported that they had been to house parties where alcohol use was permitted by adults.  The Task Force added this question to the CDC survey therefore there is no state data available for comparison.  But a quarter of our high school students attending parties where adults are serving alcohol tells us that more community outreach may be needed to educate parents on legal liabilities, alcohol dependency and permanent memory impairment.

The latest research on adolescent brain development demonstrates areas of brain damage caused by alcohol use that prevents proper permanent memory storage.  Most high school academic grading is based on new learning and short-term memory.  Daily homework assignments, weekly quizzes and monthly chapter tests use short-term memory.  But MCAS testing, SAT’s and college final exams require recollection of memory from long-term memory storage.  Alcohol use during adolescence has been proven to prevent some new learning from being stored in permanent memory, which will affect our children’s future academic success.

In related areas, student alcohol use on school property was reported to be 4% and 9% of students reported driving while under the influence of alcohol in the past 30 days.  These percentages are both equal to their respective state results.

Next month, part 2 of “Risky Behaviors of Our Teens” will continue the discussion of the YRBS results.  Drug use, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin and ecstasy will be examined. 

Marilyn Belmonte is Co-Chairperson of the Burlington Drug & Alcohol Task Force, a teen substance abuse prevention educator and founder of Healthy Outcomes, Inc. which helps communities to reduce underage drinking and teen drug use. For more information on upcoming meetings and events, visit the Task Force on Facebook or contact Marilyn Belmonte at 781-229-2638.