Students aren’t afraid to talk about their choices to use alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs.

Nearly 7% of high schoolers abuse one of the three substances during the school day, according to Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse.

Their peers aren’t surprise. 86% of teens polled in a phone interview said they know a classmate that’s abusing drugs during the day.

The findings were released in the center’s annual back to school survey.

 

Nearly half the students say they know someone who deals drugs at school, and 6 out of 10 say that drugs are easy to obtain on campus.

The top four drugs commonly abused according to the survey were marijuana, prescription drugs, cocaine, and ecstasy.

IS YOUR TEEN ONE OF THE KIDS ON CAMPUS KNOWN FOR USING OR SELLING DRUGS? CLICK HERE TO GET THE ACCURATE TEST TO DETERMINE WHETHER THEY ARE USING DRUGS.

Peer Pressure is a big factor.

The survey indicates that more teens are seeing imagery, thanks to social media, that entices them to drink. The teens say they are encouraged to party after seeing photos and videos of classmates drinking, high, or passed out.

This is a reason why parents need to be as involved in their child’s social media, as their child is. Kids do not fear posting comments about alcohol or marijuana on facebook or twitter.

It’s everywhere.

And parents who think this problem is pervasive in the public school system better open their eyes.

The survey indicates that private schools also have a massive drug problem, and it is rising dramatically.

In 2011, 36% of private school students said their school was “drug-infected.”

Fast forward a year, and that figure is now 54%, a 50-percent gain year to year.

Teen drug use appears to be a very obvious case of monkey see, monkey do.

Teens are more likely to use drugs when their parents either use, or are laid back regarding drugs, tobacco, and alcohol.

Teens who say they’ve been left alone overnight – almost 30% of those surveyed – are about twice as likely to have used alcohol or marijuana and almost three times more likely to have tried tobacco than teens who’ve never been left alone at night.

If there ever was a time for parents to get more involved with their teens, now is that time.

Parents need to be aware of what their children are doing.

They also have access to tools like the Teensavers Home Drug Test Kit that can help detect this drug use.

Catching it early, can make the difference between teens who experiment, and teens who become addicts.

For more information on the Teensavers Home Drug Test Kit, and where you can find one for your family, CLICK HERE.