
The Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey measures drug and alcohol use and related attitudes among adolescents nationwide–11,821 students from 112 public and private schools participated in 2020. This year’s data was collected right before school closures due to the coronavirus pandemic. The sample size is therefor smaller than in previous years, but doesn’t necessarily reflect…

If you’ve wondered if prevention programs can actually make a difference here is some encouraging news: new data show that more youth today have healthier behaviors than youth of 25 years ago. Data from the Youth Behavior Risk Surveillance Survey, released by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), shows that children are increasingly…
Scared straight programs. Whether you’ve seen mocked-up drunken driving crash scenes with bloodied teens playing “dead” or watched drug danger school assemblies, you may be familiar with these programs designed to frighten kids into good behavior. But do scare tactics work for preventing substance abuse and other risky behaviors?
More than a few adults have complained about the potential impact of video games since Pong first bounced into living rooms in the 1970s. Now one study suggests that teen video gamers who play frequently show brain changes similar to those found in compulsive gamblers.
More people died of heroin-only overdoses in Lancaster than in Philadelphia in 2013, according to a Lancaster Online special report. As we wrap up National Drug Facts Week, an annual initiative that uses science to help teens debunk common myths about drugs and drug use, it’s a good time to remind ourselves that, as adults,…
The “Choking Game,” has become a rising issue effecting youth mainly from ages 9-16. The Choking “Game,” however, is not a game at all, in fact it’s a way that kids can seriously injure themselves or die in an attempt to get a few minutes of lightheadedness. There are different ways to “play” the choking…