Executive Summary of the 2006 PPAAUS - Primary Prevention Awareness, Attitude, & Use Survey

STUDENT PERSPECTIVES ON THE USE OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, OTHER DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE

FRANKLIN COUNTY OHIO SCHOOLS

Introduction
Research on the use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs has consistently shown that the use of these substances by young people is correlated with a wide range of negative behaviors including low academic performance. In 1988, the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Consortium, a program of the Educational Council, initiated a needs assessment of students in grades six through twelve. Every three years, this assessment is repeated; 2006 was the seventh occasion of the survey, and over 78,000 students in public and non-public schools were included in the Primary Prevention Awareness, Attitude, and Use Survey. This summary contains highlights of the report. For comprehensive results of the 2006 Franklin County report or those of other triennial surveys, contact the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Consortium.

The purpose of this adolescent self-report inventory is to provide information that can be used to guide prevention and intervention efforts; to track changes over time in the self-reported use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs; to identify possible correlates and predictors of drug and alcohol use; and to identify areas of problem behaviors and safety concerns. Many items and topics in PPAAUS have remained the same over the years, allowing the Consortium to track suggested trends in usage, behavior and attitudes. The PPAAUS analyses may also identify predictors and correlates of use which can then be used to direct ongoing prevention efforts.

SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS

Some Correlates of Alcohol, Marijuana and Tobacco Use

Students whose friends and parents give the message “it’s NOT OK to use” report much lower use of alcohol, marijuana and tobacco.
Students who report having teachers who show respect, provide student assistance, and staff, students, parents who work together report lower use of alcohol, marijuana and tobacco.
Students who report that their families have “strong family values against the use of alcohol, tobacco or other drugs” are much less likely to use alcohol and marijuana.
Students who participate in school program activities use less alcohol, tobacco and other drugs than students who did not participate.
Students who use alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana also report higher levels of skipping school, cheating in school, suspension from school, selling drugs, vandalizing property, getting drunk and lower grades in school.

Alcohol

1% of sixth graders, 5% of seventh and eighth graders, 20% of ninth and tenth graders, and 34% of eleventh and twelfth graders drank regularly (at least once a month).
0.4% of sixth graders, 2% of seventh and eighth graders, 6% of ninth and tenth graders, and 13% of juniors and seniors drank alcohol at least once a week.
The average age of first use of alcohol for middle school students was 11.4 and for high school students, 13.9.
87% of sixth graders, 73% of seventh and eighth graders, 51% of ninth and tenth graders, and 35% of eleventh and twelfth graders had never drunk alcohol.
3% of sixth graders, 7% of seventh and eighth graders, 19% of ninth and tenth graders, and 30% of eleventh and twelfth graders reported binge drinking at least once in the last 30 days.
26% of sixth graders, 20% of seventh and eighth graders, 18% of ninth and tenth graders, 18% of eleventh and twelfth graders thought there was minimal harm (no risk or slight risk) associated with binge drinking on the weekends.
0.5% of middle school students used alcohol in school, 8% used it at parties and 10% used it at home. 2% of the high school students used alcohol in school, 38% used it at parties and 23% used it at home.
Less than 0.5% of middle school student used alcohol during school and 12% used it weekends. 1% of high school students used alcohol during school and 45% used it weekends.

Trends: Alcohol use declined in every grade from 1997 to 2006, bringing it to the lowest levels since the first PPAAUS survey in 1988. Across all grades, regular use decreased an average of 0.9% from 2003, with the largest decreases shown among students in 9th and 10th grades.

Click here for Regular Use of Alcohol graph.

Marijuana

0.6% of sixth graders, 4% of seventh and eighth graders, 12% of ninth and tenth graders, and 18% of eleventh and twelfth graders smoked marijuana once a month or more.
Average age of first use for middle school students was 12.1 and for high school students, 14.0.
98% of sixth graders, 91% of seventh and eighth graders, 76% of ninth and tenth graders, and 64% of eleventh and twelfth graders had never smoked marijuana.
24% of sixth graders, 18% of seventh and eighth graders, 18% of ninth and tenth graders, and 19% of eleventh and twelfth graders believe there is minimal harm (no risk or slight risk) associated with smoking marijuana regularly.
Among middle school students, 0.5% of the students reported smoking marijuana at school, 4% at parties and 3% at home. In high school, 3% of the students had smoked marijuana at school, 19% had smoked at parties and 12% at home.
1% of middle school students used marijuana before school, less than 0.5% used it during school, 2% used it after school, 2% used it week nights, and 5% used it weekends. 5% of the high school students used marijuana before school, 3% used it during school, 9% used it after school, 9% used it week nights, and 21% used marijuana weekends.

Trends: After a large increase in use from 1991 to 1994 in all grades, marijuana use remained fairly stable to 1997. In 2000, decreases in use were seen in all grades. This trend continued in 2003 and 2006, to levels below the 1994 levels. Students in 9th and 12th grades reported the largest decreases from 2003.

Click here for Regular Use of Marijuana graph.

Tobacco

0.4% of sixth graders, 1% of seventh and eighth graders, 5% of ninth and tenth graders, and 9% of eleventh and twelfth graders reported smoking cigarettes daily.
An additional 2% of middle school students and 7% of high school students smoke at least once a month up to twice a week.
The average age of first use for middle school students was 11.2 and for high school students, 13.4.
94% of sixth graders, 86% of seventh and eighth graders, 75% of ninth and tenth graders, and 67% of eleventh and twelfth graders had never smoked cigarettes.
26% of sixth graders, 20% of seventh and eighth graders, 15% of ninth and tenth graders, and 11% of eleventh and twelfth graders thought there was minimal harm (no risk or slight risk) associated with smoking one or more packs of cigarettes per day.
Less than 1% of middle school students used cigarettes in school, 4% used them at parties and 5% used them at home. 3% of high school students used cigarettes in school, 14% used them at parties and 12% used them at home.
0.5% of middle school students used cigarettes during school, 3% used them after school, 2% used them week nights, and 5% used them weekends. 7% of the high school students used cigarettes before school, 3% used them during school, 11% used them after school, 9% used them week nights, and 14% used them weekends.

Trends: After increases in cigarette use in 1994 and 1997, use in 2006 continued a downward trend that began in 2000. The largest decreases are represented by students in 9th, 10th and 12th grades. Smokeless tobacco use has been decreasing slightly since 1991.

Click here for Regular Use of Cigarettes graph.

Messages about Drinking

Teachers, coaches, club advisors and parents were most successful at conveying "It's not OK to drink.“
An average of 88% of sixth through eighth graders and 75% of ninth through twelfth graders felt that teachers gave them the message that drinking is not acceptable.
85% of students who had a coach thought they received a negative message about drinking from that person.
77% of middle school students and 62% of high school students thought that parents disapproved of drinking alcohol.
54% of sixth through eighth graders and 23% of ninth through twelfth graders indicated that the message from friends was “It’s Not OK to drink.”
37% of middle school students and 19% of high school students perceived a message of “It’s Not OK to drink” from the media.

“Message” items were also included for tobacco and marijuana. The responses for these items produced similar patterns as messages about drinking.
For club advisors and coaches, percentages are based on ONLY those students who participated in activities or sports.

Click here for graph of Messages about Drinking.

About PPAAUS
Fact Sheet
Executive Summary
Recommendations
Table of Contents

Problem Behaviors
In-School

10% of Franklin County students in grades six through eight and 24% in grades nine through twelve had skipped school at least once in the past year.
33% of sixth through eighth graders and 52% of the ninth through twelfth graders had cheated on a class test at least once.

Community

3% of middle school students and 10% of high school students reported that they had sold drugs in the past year.
16% of middle school students and 22% of high school students had vandalized property.
23% of students had ridden in a car when the driver had been drinking in the past year, 18% with a driver who had been smoking pot.
21% of students who drive had done so while drinking, 18% of students had driven a car while using marijuana, and 45% of students had served as a designated driver.

Bullying-Related Behaviors

Students were asked questions about behaviors during school that are associated with bullying. They were asked to reflect on how they treat peers (perpetrator), whether or not they are treated negatively (victim) and what they do when others are being bullied (bystander).

Perpetrators

24% of middle school students and 21% of high school students had pushed others around to make them afraid (5% of all students more than three times).
51% of sixth through eighth graders and 39% of ninth through twelfth graders had told lies or spread false rumors about someone (7% of all students four times or more).
32% of middle school students and 30% of high school students reported they had left someone out of a group or activity to hurt them (5% of all students more than three times).

Victims

9% of middle school students and 6% of high school students reported that they had been robbed at school within the past year (1% of all students more than three times).
19% of middle school students and 10% of high school students said they had been physically attacked at school (3% of all students four times or more)
40% of the sixth through eighth graders and 34% of the ninth through twelfth graders had been verbally attacked (9% of all students four times or more).
22% of middle school students and 17% of high school students had feared for their physical safety at school.
29% of middle school students and 25% of high school students had been called names, disrespected, physically threatened, or made to feel afraid online.

Bystanders

33% of middle school students and 47% of high school students did nothing when another student was being called mean or hurtful names (5% of all students joined in).
19% of middle school and 28% of high school students did nothing when another student was being physically attacked (3% of all students joined in).
30% of students in grades six through eight and 43% of students in grades nine through twelve did nothing when they observed someone spreading mean rumors or gossip (6% of all students joined in).

Perpetrators

29% of Franklin County students had “pushed others around to get something you want” (5% had done this more than three times).
21% of students had pushed others around to make them afraid (4% more than three times).
33% had threatened to beat up someone (8% four times or more).
27% of students reported they had beat up someone (7% more than three times).

Problem Behaviors

13% of Franklin County students in grades six through eight and 32% in grades nine through twelve had skipped school at least once in the past year.
36% of sixth through eighth graders and 54% of the ninth through twelfth graders had cheated on a class test at least once.
4% of middle school students and 11% of high school students reported that they had sold drugs in the past year.
18% of middle school students and 23% of high school students had vandalized property.

Prevention Programs

83% of the Franklin County students had participated in Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E) at least once in school.
31% of all students surveyed had been in drug-free clubs or activities such as Youth to Youth or Teen Institute.
24% of students had participated in conflict resolution programs like peer mediation and Peaceful Schools.
37% of the Franklin County students had participated in drug-free leadership or camps or retreats (for example, Youth to Youth or Teen Institute).

Family and Friends

Students who report that their families have “strong family values against the use of alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs” are much less likely to use tobacco, alcohol and marijuana than those students who report that their family does not have those values.
Students whose friends give the message “It is NOT OK to use” report much lower use of alcohol and marijuana than those students who have friends that do not deliver this message.

Other Correlates of Tobacco, Alcohol, and Marijuana Use

Higher levels of social activities and “work-for-pay” activities are associated with higher levels of tobacco, alcohol and marijuana usage.
Students who use alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana also report higher levels of skipping school, cheating in school, selling drugs, vandalizing property, getting drunk and lower grades in school.

PPAAUS maintains very good internal and external reliability. Reliability coefficients from PPAAUS average .7935.

For more information, please contact The Safe and Drug-Free Schools Consortium, a program of the Educational Council, 1929 Kenny Road, Suite 120, Columbus, OH 43210, 614-292-8707.