I have two adult children, both wonderful people who, really, were pretty painless to rear — even during their teen years. At a time when I followed such news as surveys about teen drug use, teen drinking, teen crime, and all the rest, my son explained the obvious to me: You can’t really trust teen survey results because teens 1) love to put things over on adults, and, 2) know how to tell adults in authority just what they want to hear. (Hmm … sounds oddly like politicians, doesn’t it?)
So I learned some years ago not to put much credence in major news stories characterizing teen drug use which are based on survey results. To be honest, I don’t know of an effective way to monitor or measure teen drug use besides such surveys. And the one released yesterday was certainly based on a ton of people surveyed — something near 50,000 teenagers.
Having said that, the latest survey was encouraging, for sure:
“Thirteen percent of eighth grade students reported using an illicit drug at least once in the past year in 2007, down nearly half from 24 percent in 1996, University of Michigan researchers said.”
So let’s rightfully be encouraged. I think President Bush was reaching when he claimed anti-drug policies and work by his Administration were significantly responsible for the decline. But I applaud any and all who are trying to help teenagers stay away from drugs. Adults, too, for that matter. (My daughter has spent the first 10-12 years of her professional career counseling teens and adults regarding drug abuse.)
Ah, well, what do I know? I’m just a guy who reads the papers.
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