- Evidence suggests that alcohol use by peers is a strong predictor of adolescent use and misuse of alcohol.1
- According to a 1995 national survey of fourth through sixth graders who read the Weekly Reader, 30 percent of students reported that they received "a lot" of pressure from their classmates to drink beer.2
- Three-quarters of eighth graders reported having friends who use alcohol. In fact, one-fourth of eighth graders said that most or all of their friends drink.
- Among eighth graders, students with higher grade point averages reported less alcohol use in the past month.4
- Among eighth graders, higher truancy rates were associated with greater rates of alcohol use in the past month.4
- One national study found that students are less likely to use alcohol if they are close to people at school, are a part of their school, and if they feel that teachers treat students fairly.5
- According to the 1995 Weekly Reader survey, over half (54 percent) of fourth through sixth graders reported learning about the dangers of illicit drugs at school, but less than a third (30 percent) learned about the dangers of drinking and smoking at school.2
- In 1995, 76 percent of seventh through twelfth grade teachers polled felt that underage student drinking was a serious or somewhat serious problem.6
1 Hawkins, J.D., et al. Exploring the effects of age of alcohol use initiation and psychosocial risk factors on subsequent alcohol misuse. Journal of Studies on Alcohol 58(3):280-290, 1997.
2 The Weekly Reader National Survey on Drugs and Alcohol, Middletown, CT: Field Publications, Spring 1995.
3 Johnston, L.D., et al. National Survey Results on Drug Use from the Monitoring the Future Study, 1975-1997: Volume 1. Secondary School Students. Rockville, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1998.
4 O'Malley, P.M., et al. Alcohol use among adolescents. Alcohol Health & Research World 22(2):85-93, 1998.
5 Resnick, M.D., et al. Protecting adolescents from harm: Findings from the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health. Journal of the American Medical Association 278(10):823-832, 1997.
6 Metropolitan Life/Louis Harris Associates, Inc. The Metropolitan Life Survey of the American Teacher, 1984-1995. Cited in Department of Education. Digest of Education Statistics, 1996. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, 1996.
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