I was reading this article on cnn just now and it really pissed me off. Here is the article.:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- It's not just a cliche: Sex and drugs often do go together, says a survey of U.S. teenagers.
Teens
who say at least half their friends are having sex are more likely to
report having tried marijuana, alcohol and cigarettes.
The annual
survey, released Thursday, asked teens aged 12-17 about their use of
illegal substances. Researchers then looked for other activities of
daily life that were associated with such use.
"This year's
survey reveals a tight connection between teen sexual behavior and
substance abuse," said Joseph A. Califano Jr., president of the
National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.
"Parents
who become aware of certain dating and sexual behavior by their
children should be alert to the increased likelihood of substance
abuse," he said.
In a separate effort to discourage underage
drinking, the children's cable TV channel Nickelodeon and an advocacy
group, The Century Council, were announcing an initiative Thursday to
reach out to kids and parents. "Ask, Listen and Learn" aims to educate
kids about the issue and to help parents talk with their kids about
underage drinking. It is to include booklets, Web sites and TV public
service ads aimed at both groups.
Unlike other surveys, the one
by the Columbia group did not ask teens about their own sexual
activity, but asked them to estimate how many of their friends were
sexually active. It was conducted this way because the ethical review
board that oversees the center would not approve a direct question,
said spokeswoman Lauren Duran.
Researchers compared teens who
reported at least half their friends are sexually active with those who
said none of their friends are. About one in four teens reported at
least half their friends are sexually active; about four in ten said
none are.
The study found that the first group is:
More likely to have tried alcohol, 66 percent vs. 10 percent of those whose friends don't have sex.More likely to have gotten drunk at least once in the past month, 31 percent vs. 1 percent.More likely to have tried marijuana, 45 percent vs. 2 percent.More likely to have tried cigarettes, 45 percent vs. 8 percent.The
survey also found that the more time teens spend with their boyfriends
or girlfriends, the more likely they are to smoke, drink and use drugs. No
matter what their behavior, teens said that smoking, using illegal
drugs and getting drunk are not cool. More than 80 percent said each of
these activities make a teenager "seem like a loser." About 10 percent
said the activities make him or her "seem cool." The telephone
survey of 1,000 teenagers was conducted between April 16 and May 16,
2004. The margin of error is plus or minus three percentage points for
the entire group, larger for subgroups.
The paragraph that particularly anoyed me was "parents that know about
there kids doing sexual things should be worried about them doing
drugs." I personally feel the two habits are completely unrelated.
What I think really threw off the study was the wide age group.
Of course 12 year olds friends wont be sexually active. Since
they are so young they probobly also havnt had any drug related
experience. Also im sure a lot of 17 year olds friends are
sexually active. And since have gone through much more of life,
they have had more drug related experiences. Think about it, how
many kids in 6th grade have some friends that are sexually active and
have drank themselves? very few.... What about a senior in
high school? According to a study in my health class, it is
between 90 and 100%. If the study had been narowed to a specific
age or grade it would be a lot more credible in my eyes.
I always see these articles about how bad teenagers are nowadays and
how much sex and drugs they do. I personally think these surveys
are designed to make us kids look bad.
Please comment, I am interested on your view of my analysis.
~Jeff
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