Page 102 - March-2015-Life-in-Naples-Magazine

PERCEPTION IS NOT REALITY

WHEN IT COMES TO LOCAL TEEN DRUG USE.
The majority of our kids are drug and alcohol free!

P erception is everything in the teen years. It’s a time when many young people To correct these misperceptions,it’s important
want to fit in and often take chances based on their impression of what to use real data. The just released 2014 Florida
“everybody else” is doing. When it comes to drugs and alcohol, studies show Youth Substance Abuse Survey (FYSAS) gives
that young people drastically overestimate use among their peers. us the real data we need and shows that most
“You’ve never had a kid come to school on Monday, saying: ‘Great weekend! I was so local teens are not using drugs or alcohol. As
raging sober,’”said Renee Soulis, a 30-year-veteran of FCD Educational Services and part part of this survey, more than 1,200 students in
of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. Instead, young kids hear all about the ones who grades 6 through 12 were polled from multiple
are drinking and this drives everything, Soulis explained to local school counselors and schools throughout Collier County. The FYSAS
teachers during a recent workshop that was co-sponsored by Drug Free Collier and the is a collaborative effort between the Florida
Collier County Public Schools. departments of Health, Education, Children
and Families, Juvenile Justice and the Governor’s
“The more use kids think that there is, the more use there will be. These false Office of Drug Control. It has been administered
perceptions greatly increase risks. Students are making decisions based on incorrect data since 2002 and allows us to compare prevalence
and this data gets reinforced multiple times a day,” Soulis said. “So much of our time and rates over the years. Although there are areas
focus is spent on kids who are in trouble. We never talk about the healthy population,” she of concern, the 2014 data shows that overall
added, comparing it to today’s airline travel: “You’ll never see a headline that says, ‘Plane substance use rates for Collier County youth are
Landed Safely (although most planes do).’” among the lowest they’ve ever been.

So, next time you hear someone saying that
“everybody is doing it,” you might just want to
show them the data that proves otherwise: (See
Chart below.)

Collier County Teens Are Proof That Everyone Isn’t “Doing It!”

2014 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey Results

Substance Percent of NON-users in Middle School Percent of NON-users in High School
Alcohol
Marijuana 92.7% 70.4%
Cigarettes
Prescription Medication 96.3% 83.6%
Over-the-counter medication
98.9% 92.7%

97.6% 91.7%

98.9% 97.0%

102 Life in Naples | March 2015