84% of youth in Tompkins County feel safe in their neighborhoods.  86% feels safe at school.  83% participated in extracurricular activities, and felt they could ask their parents for help with a personal problem.  77.5% of Tompkins County youth, in grades 7 through 12,  responded to the latest Communities that Care® Youth Survey last fall, and a summary report of the results was recently released by the Community Coalition for Healthy Youth and the Tompkins County Youth Services Dept.

The survey is a combined effort of Community Coalition for Healthy Youth, TST BOCES, Alcohol & Drug Council, Tompkins County Youth Services Department, and Dryden, Groton, Ithaca, Lansing, Newfield, and Trumansburg School Districts and New Roots Charter School.  It is administered every other year, and organizers say that many schools have participated four times since 2008.  It That means that analysts can begin to see trends in youth opinions and behavior.  Kids answers are anonymous to make a higher probability that they will answer honestly.  That means that there is a higher probability of quantifying the bad news as well as the good.

Results are broken down into four categories: school, family, community and individual.  In schools the top area of concern is positive reinforcement of good behavior, followed by bullying, cutting class.  14% of high school students reported they were drunk or high at school over the previous year. 

While the news is generally good, things could be better.  The average age when kids in the County try marijuana is only 13.8 years old.  One quarter of all students in the County were verbally bullied in the month before the survey was administered.  And 26% are alcohol users.  40% said it is easy to obtain marijuana, and 38% said it would be easy to get alcohol.  But fewer kids are using prescription drugs, except 12th graders, whose use in Tompkins County is higher than national rates.  On the other hand, cigarette use is down locally, and is well below national tobacco use by youth.

On the plus side parental disapproval of drug, tobacco, and alcohol use has proven to reduce the number of youth indulging in them.  9% of youth whose parents disapprove of marijuana had used it 30 days prior to the survey, compared to a whopping 57% of marijuana users who said their parents do not disapprove.  Alcohol is the most commonly used substance by youth in the County.  26% reported using it 30 days prior to the survey, down from 29% in 2012.  13% said they binge drink.

As you might expect, substance use rises as children get older.  Alcohol use has dropped each year for 7th through 11th graders.  While the 2012 survey did show a drop, in 2014 12th grade alcohol use rose.  The same trend is true for prescription drugs -- all use declined except for 12th graders who exceeded the national level.  Marijuana use rose slightly for 7th graders, then declined for all other grades except 11th and 12th.  Cigarette use reached an all time high for 12th graders in 2012, but declined to 2010 levels of about 13% in 2014, below the national level.

Students said that cigarettes are the most dangerous substance,followed by prescription drugs, and alcohol.  They rated marijuana the least harmful.

Mental health markers are of concern.  More high school students are feeling sad or hopeless than two years ago, and Tompkins County youth are a little higher than the national average of 29%.  31% said they feel depressed or sad most days.

The survey concludes that there is a lot of good news in these results, but the County has room for improvement.  School superintendent and building principal have been provided copies of their own district and building results.

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