Recently the LHS Eagle Eye sent out a survey about the effects drugs have on students as well as perceptions about drug use. The anonymous survey asked students if they knew of a peer who had done drugs. Out of the students surveyed, 80 percent answered yes.
“I’m not surprised because it’s pretty prevalent, especially in high school students,” junior Grant Root said when asked what he thought about the high percentage.
With regards to what constitutes a drug, one of the survey questions asked if students thought marijuana was a drug. 25 percent of the students who responded said that they don’t think marijuana is a drug.
“Marijuana is the most common one [drug] I think for kids our age,” an anonymous student said. “Although it’s not very harmful, it still acts as a gate way drug and is no good.”
Some students expressed that the community is not really aware of drug use in teens from Lindale. Many think it is a problem for other towns.
“It’s something that people want to ignore,” Matthew Edwards said. “If students want drugs they can get them if they know how. But it’s not a problem so large in this district that it’s brought to the public eye. It’s really just swept under the rug.”
Drug use can often show up as behavior problems that differ from a student’s normal personality.
“Number one it begins to affect the attitude,” assistant principal Ryan Tomlin said. “A lot of times when we come across students with this behavior, we first recognize it by disobedience, rebellious attitude, and disrespect. It affects their surroundings when their attitude starts to change, then grades start to suffer and then things in their life start spiraling, so it definitely affects them.”
Additional Facts:
According to the Community Drug and Alcohol Council of Florida, “Marijuana use is now ahead of cigarette smoking; in 2014, 21.2% of high school seniors used marijuana in the past 30 days, while 13.6% smoked cigarettes. 6.5% of 8th graders and 16.6% of 10th graders have used marijuana in the past 30 days. Recent trends show an increase of marijuana use among 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students because there is a decline in the perceived risk of harm associated with marijuana use.”
