By: Cortney Sollows, Tim Jewett, Jeff Johnson, Paul Landau

 Drugs are mainly used for medical purposes, but when they are over used or used inappropriately they can be very harmful to yourself, and your surroundings.  When kids in school are abusing drugs it effects their education and learning ability immensely.  powerful-pictures-for-teens-and- parents-to-see/

 Marijuana is the most commonly used drug in adolescents, after alcohol.  Pharmaceuticals are also prevalent in schools.

Facts: 21.4% of high school seniors used marijuana in the past 30 days, while 19.2 percent smoked cigarettes. 40% of high school students have tried marijuana 11.3% of students have tried marijuana before the age of 13 school-youth-trends

Students are much more likely to suffer from memory problems. Difficulty concentrating. Decline in comprehension and cognitive skills. These effect are much more pronounced in heavy or regular users due to changes that are made to the brain when the drug is taken for long periods of time.

The single most important factor affecting whether or not a student will use drugs, is parental involvement. Teens with weak family ties are 4 times more likely to try tobacco or marijuana as those with a strong family Parents’ attitude toward drinking or drugs also has a big impact, and teens need to know that drinking and drugs are not acceptable. g-abuse-at-school/

Private Schools  Private schools are more enforced and structured than public schools.  Extra curricular activities are a requirement among private schools. Public Schools Less supervised Minimal structure Less work Most public schools use camera surveillance.

Socially, having a lack of motivation can cause problems. In school, lack of motivation can cause problems with both learning and in performing well Friendships can also be threatened, since a lack of motivation to see anyone other than the people you smoke marijuana with can cause you to lose friends. And, as a marijuana addict, people often have negative connotations associated with you, leading to lost opportunities.

Athlete’s perform Poorly when under the influence Hinders endurance Lack of drive/ambition Athletes are cut from teams if caught. Many students choose drugs over sports.

Being pressured into doing drugs by your friends. Children thinking that if they do drugs they will be cool and meet more friends. If they don’t try something new, they are afraid that they will not be accepted by their peers. pressure.html

Physical Affects Increased heartbeat. Generally, it slows down in about 20 minutes. Drop of the blood pressure. Change of blood pressure. Sense of cold or hot hands and feet. Discoloration of the white of the eye to somewhat pink because of dilation of the vessels in the conjunctiva of the eye. Relaxation of the muscles. All of which affect a day of school for a student

 Many schools use scare tactics, when controlling the drug flow in schools.  Research has shown that when schools create a fun friendly learning environment students are less likely to bring drugs to school, or come to school under the influence.

12 Step Program used by Guidance counselors  Program based on the belief that addiction is a progressive disease that affects a personal emotionally, physically and spiritually.  Students learn to find a power greater than themselves to replace the reliance on drugs, the specific definition is up to each individual

Drug Abuse Resistance Education Dare was founded in It has been developed in 75% of our nation’s school districts. Dare is an organization that is conducted by a police officer in a classroom. The program’s objective is to teach students from kindergarten through twelve grade to resist peer pressure and participate in hobbies that do not include drugs or violence.

 CDC promotes the health and well-being of children and adolescents to enable them to become healthy and productive students and adults.  SHPPS is a national survey periodically conducted to assess school health policies and programs at the state, district, school, and classroom levels, including those related to alcohol and drug use.

Q

 Has Marijuana use increased or decreased sense the 70’s?  Which is the most popular illicit drug?  Which school has the most drug flow. Public or Private?