My son started his first year of high school Tuesday, a few days after the results of the annual Back to School Survey conducted by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University. This year’s report highlights a huge disconnect between parents and their high school age teens, with parents in denial over what their kids are facing when socializing at parties. Joseph Califano, Jr., the executive director, says the “self-delusion and lack of awareness of these parental palookas (sic) put their children at enormous risk of drinking and using illegal and prescription drugs.”
The survey found:
n 80 percent of parents believe that neither alcohol nor marijuana is usually available at parties their teens attend. BUT 50 percent of teen partygoers attend parties where alcohol, drugs or both are available.
n 98 percent of parents say they are normally present during parties they allow their teens to have at home. BUT a third of teen partygoers report that parents are rarely or never present at the parties they attend.
n 99 percent of parents say they would not be willing to serve alcohol at their teen’s party. BUT 28 percent of teen partygoers have been at parties at a home where parents were present and teens were drinking alcohol.
n Only 12 percent of parents see drugs as their teen’s greatest concern. BUT twice as many teens (27 percent) say drugs are their greatest concern.
Califano said, “If your teen is having a party at your home, you should not only be there, but be aware of what is going on. And if your teen attends a party at someone else’s home, confirm that the parents will be present and that alcohol and drugs will not. The reality is that even when parents are present at a party, some kids will try to sneak in substances.”
The reality my daughter experienced last spring at parties was that parents knew teens were accessing alcohol at their parties, but had a variety of reasons for letting them, but mostly running in the “it’s better they do it here where they are safe” variety.
As high schools open for school again, CASA’s 11th teen survey finds that teens attending three or more parties a month are at two and one half times the risk for substance abuse compared to teens that do not attend parties.
The transition from age 13 to age 14 – or eighth grade to ninth grade is a particularly risky time for American teens. Compared to 13-year-olds, 14-year-olds are almost three times likelier to attend parties where parents are present and teens drink alcohol; two times likelier to attend parties where parents are present and teens smoke pot; and four times likelier to attend parties where parents are present and teens use other drugs.
But By the time a teen reaches age 17:
n Seven out of 10 will have been offered an illegal drug; and almost half (46 percent) will have attended a party at which teens were drinking alcohol, smoking pot, or using cocaine, Ecstasy or prescription drugs while a parent was present.
There were other striking findings (for a full report, go to www.casacolumbia.org), some of which are in line with what the Gilroy Substance Abuse Prevention Partnership, a project of the South County Collaborative, found in a series of focus groups of local students, middle school to high school age, also conducted last Spring. Organizers are still compiling the data, and will soon begin house meetings to get information from local adults. As soon as I have all the results, I’ll share it in a future column.
However, in the meantime, parents of teens, be on guard. I haven’t spoken to one parent who said they looked forward to their kid being exposed to and using alcohol and drugs. However, not many parents feel comfortable enough to be so uncoil that they will ask parents of host teens not only if they’ll be present, but ask them if they will allow alcohol and drugs. However, you must ask, because they need to know someone is paying attention.
In the meantime, parents, school officials and local teens, are working with the Substance Abuse Prevention Projects in Gilroy and Morgan Hill. If you are interested in seeing what you can do to help prevent substance abuse in your community, contact me. We have groups working on several strategies in both communities.
Columnist Dina Campeau is a wife, mother of two teens and a resident of Morgan Hill. Her work for the last seven years has focused on affordable housing and homeless issues. Her column is published each Saturday. Reach her at
dc******@ch*****.net
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