Making the Grade for High School

By the time your child reaches high school, the “don’t do drugs”message is one they’ve heard for years. Not only can they make the distinction between the different types of drugs and their effects, they also may be able to differentiate between a casual user and an addict. They’ve seen many of their friends and fellow students use drugs, some without negative or fatal consequences, others whose drug use is completely out of control, hovering on the brink of devastating addiction or, sadly, resulting in death. Most high school students have been faced with making a choice about drugs, at least once in their educational years. In fact, a 2009 study by the National Center for Education Statistics found that 22 percent of public high school students were offered, sold or given drugs at school. And while most parents may think that alcohol and marijuana are the drugs they need to worry about, in actuality, it’s prescription drugs that have grown in popularity among high school and college students in recent years. In 2009, the Centers for Disease Control found that 20.2 percent of high school students said they had taken a drug such as Ritalin, Xanax or OxyContin without a doctor’s prescription. The ease with which teens can get prescription drugs is one reason for the increase. Kids are getting them from friends who are legitimately prescribed the drug, from online pharmacies that don’t require a prescription and from their own medicine cabinets.