You may be just be one of the few instead of the many if you binge drink or smoke marijuana, according to the Fairfax County Youth Survey taken on November 13 and 14 by sophomores and seniors.
The youth survey revealed that the percentage of students at Langley consuming drugs and alcohol is steadily declining. Principal Matthew Ragone was happy that the percentage of students using drugs and alcohol had decreased.
“They went down in binge drinking, marijuana use, and recreational drinking, so I was pretty pleased,” said Mr. Ragone. Even though these numbers certainly won’t disappear, they are declining each year due to a number of reasons.
Assets have been proven to decrease the chance of a student engaging in recreational drug use and drinking because they are preoccupied with positive influences. “An asset means students have adults to talk to, they participate in extracurricular activities and they feel safe in school; it’s their choice to not engage in risky behaviors and it shows that the kids are the ones in control,” said Mr. Ragone.
In comparison to the data from 2011, the percentage of students that reported drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana decreased. As the statistics from last year show, 55% of the seniors drank alcohol while this year, the number dropped to 45.1%.
In addition, the amount of seniors that smoked marijuana also went down from 28% to 17.7%. “I don’t think the statistics are accurate because unfortunately I know of many teenagers who drink and do drugs, and I feel like the amount who do is way more,” said junior Jessica de Oliva. Another large concern at Langley is binge drinking, however, 84.16% of students choose not to do it.
Some students chose to misrepresent themselves on the survey, although the county accounts for these students and removes their results from the final scores. By adding in faulty questions on the survey, the county could identify students that would skew the results. “Obviously the county knows about this because they add questions about ridiculous sounding made-up drugs, but everyone knows those are not real and therefore do not help the survey’s accuracy and validity,” said sophomore Julia Block.
In order to discuss the results of the youth survey, there were a number of parent coffees and meetings to sort out the important aspects. Discussed were the significant percentages of increase and decrease and how the youth survey was conducted.
Overall, Langley’s drug and alcohol usage is not as predominant as students were led to believe by their peers. “I would definitely say drinking is the worst problem at Langley that was mentioned in the youth survey. I know drugs like marijuana are also an issue, but it feels like alcohol is easier to get,” said sophomore Natalie Harris. However, next year will be a whole new ball game when the surveys are taken again because the results vary each year.