What is being done to make the public aware of illegal drugs, according to an eye-opening report?
The 14th annual national survey of parents’ attitudes about teen drug and alcohol use was released by the nonprofit Partnership for a Drug-Free America and MetLife Foundation. The Partnership/MetLife Foundation Parents Attitude Tracking Study (PATS) reveals a strong increase in parental awareness of the dangers of one of the most troubling and persistent trends in teen drug use — teen abuse of prescription medications. This nationally projectable survey of 1,004 parents of children in grades 4-12 was conducted in-home by the Partnership with major funding beginning in 2008 from MetLife Foundation. The study highlights remarkable year-over-year progress in increasing parents’ perception of the risks posed by teen abuse of prescription (Rx) medications — an entrenched behavior that nearly 20 percent of teens admit to engaging in during their lifetime. According to the PATS 2008 survey, in a single year’s time, the number of parents who mistakenly believe that abusing prescription medic
Media Prompts Parent-Teen Conversations The primary — and increasingly influential — cue for parent-teen discussions about drug and alcohol issues is the media, particularly television. In 2008, 70 percent of parents surveyed reported that something portrayed in the media prompted a conversation with their child about drugs or alcohol, and 64 percent specified that they were motivated to start a discussion by seeing something drug-related on television. This represents a significant increase from 2007, when 63 percent and 57 percent of parents, respectively, reported the media in general or television specifically as a cue to talk to teens about substance abuse. The PATS data also revealed that more parents are prompted to address teen drug or alcohol use before special events, like graduation, and at key transition times when teens are most vulnerable, including starting a new grade or moving into middle or high school. Significantly more parents in 2008 (27 percent) versus 2007 (20
