A Closer Look at Substance Use Among Medfield Teens

Editor’s note: This is part two of a two-part series that takes a look at the Medfield Cares About Prevention program and substance use statistics amongst Medfield teens. To read part one of this series, "Medfield Community Group Showing it Cares About Substance Prevention," click here.

Medfield Cares About Prevention (MCAP) administered a student survey in November 2010 to collect data on teen substance use in Medfield and after reviewing the data this past November, Susan Cowell, an MCAP member and the school district’s K-12 wellness specialist, came to the conclusion that prevention efforts need to increase as students get older.

“What I think is the most important thing is that parents take away the message that the risk of your child engaging in substance use increases with age,” Cowell said. “[Parents] need to step up their prevention efforts more as [children] get older.”

The MetroWest Adolescent Health Survey’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (YRBSS) covers a wide range of topics but Cowell said MCAP focused on three substances – cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana use – when reviewing Medfield's results.

"The only way we can do comparisons from how we are compared to others in the state and nation is if the [survey] questions are exactly the same," Cowell said. "Every other year, this survey is held. The YRBSS is held on odd years and ours is held on even years only because their [test] is in the spring and our [test] is in the fall. In a nutshell, [MCAP's survey] mirrors the state and national [test]."

Data was gathered from students in grades 7 through 12. A teen designated as a “current user” was someone who said they had used the substance in question within the last 30 days of taking the survey. In Medfield, 885 high school students (95 percent) and 437 middle school students (92 percent) participated in the survey.

Cowell said MCAP wanted to highlight information gathered from the results for parents in grades four through 12 because she felt it was important to start prevention young and – as the results indicate – strengthen prevention as children grow older.

"Just because your kids aren’t using or you don’t have any suspicions of them using, doesn’t mean you don’t need to focus on this or pay attention to it that would help prevent," Cowell said. ... "Even though the data was only gathered from students seven through 12, we wanted parents to see, grade by grade, what students reported."

Cowell stressed that the statisitcs alone were not the focus of this survey but what those trends mean in terms of strengthening prevention efforts throughout town.

"The data is not the big news," Cowell said. "For us, the data is just the information for us to help plan our programs and to ensure the programs we are planning are appropriate and necessary to address any new issues of concern, to track any improvements from programs we have instituted."

Here’s a look at the results:

Percentage of Medfield students that said they had smoked a cigarette in the last 30 days:

• 7th graders: 1 percent
• 8th graders: 2 percent
• 9th graders: 4 percent
• 10th grade: 7 percent
• 11th grade: 12 percent
• 12th grade: 21 percent

 “We are seeing a downward turn that cigarette use is declining,” Cowell said. “We are still concerned, knowing what we know, that we still have students choosing to smoke. It is very concerning to us but the numbers are going down.”

Cowell added as a high school, Medfield (11 percent) was below the Metrowest region (12 percent), state (16 percent) and national (20 percent) figures.

Cowell said parents should take note that cigarette use nearly doubles from grades 11 to 12 and that is related to having more independence.

“Even though you have a ninth grader that doesn’t smoke, you need to make sure you are talking about it at that age if you want to prevent them from starting [as they get older],” Cowell said.

Percentage of Medfield students that said they had consumed alcohol (not for religious purposes) in the last 30 days:

• 7th grade: 3 percent
• 8th grade: 2 percent
• 9th grade:  7 percent
• 10th grade: 31 percent
• 11th grade: 51 percent
• 12th grade: 60 percent

“If you look at those [alcohol use] numbers, it’s pretty low there in the first few grades but then boom, everything happens in 10th through 12th grade,” said Cowell. “Just because your kids aren’t using or you don’t have any suspicions of them using, doesn’t mean you don’t need to focus on this or pay attention to it that would help prevent.”

Cowell pointed out while the majority of teen drinking is occuring in the 11th and 12th grades, the majority of these students are opting not to use substances.

"Although we did have 60 percent of the seniors saying they were current alcohol users and 51 percent of the juniors, but aside from that, the vast majority of kids are not using alcohol or marijuana," Cowell said. "People not using show that they are in good, majority company."

Cowell said when the town first administered this survey in 2006; it was interested in establishing an alcohol prevention program in ninth grade. After looking at the latest data, Cowell said that is something they will look at again.

“Let’s evaluate that program,” Cowell said. “We do see alcohol use going down [from ninth to 10th grade]. We had a youth substance abuse initiative coordinator for a few years and she was hired under a grant and she worked for the town. We don’t know if our decrease is related to the efforts she has made with the parents in the community. … But we know we have increased our efforts and we hope there’s been some positive results."

Percentage of Medfield students that said they have consumed five or more drinks in an hour or two (bine drinking) in the last 30 days:

• 7th grade: 1 percent
• 8th grade: 0 percent
• 9th grade: 5 percent
• 10th grade: 18 percent
• 11th grade: 32 percent
• 12th grade: 42 percent

Cowell said this behavior, no matter the percentage, is alarming.

"42 percent of the senior class saying in the last 30 days 'I had more than five drinks in an hour or two' [is a concern]," Cowell said. "I can’t remember the last time I had five or more drinks in a weekend. This is definitely a high-risk behavior, drinking for a purpose."

Percentage of Medfield students that said they have smoked marijuana in the last 30 days:

• 7th grade: 1 percent
• 8th grade: 0 percent
• 9th grade: 7 percent
• 10th grade: 17 percent
• 11th grade: 35 percent
• 12th grade: 38 percent

"Beginning with 10th and 11th grade, we saw that number double," Cowell said of marijuana users amongst teens in Medfield. "It is still less than half of the kids that are current marijuana users, which [is a positive sign]."

After reviewing the data above, Cowell noted several trends among Medfield teens.

“Cigarette use and alcohol use are both going down [from previous years] and marijuana use is starting to climb [from previous years],” Cowell said. “We are concerned about that and that was really what as behind us wanting to highlight these issues.”

In terms of how Medfield compares to others surveyed in the MetroWest region, state and nation, Cowell said there several positive signs.

"We are lower everywhere [in comparison to cigarette use]," Cowell said. "We are a little bit higher in the region but are lower in the state and country [in comparison to alcohol use]."

As for marijuana use, Medfield is lower than the state but higher in the region and country.

Here’s a look at how Medfield compares to the region, state and country:

• Cigarette use: 11 percent of Medfield High School said they had smoked cigarettes. That number in the MetroWest region was 12 percent, 16 percent at the state and 20 percent at the national level.
• Alcohol use: 37 percent of Medfield High School said they had consumed alcohol. That number in the MetroWest region was 35 percent, 44 percent in the state and 42 percent in the country.
• Marijuana use: 24 percent of Medfield High School said they had smoked marijuana. That number was 23 percent in the MetroWest region, 27 percent in the state and 21 percent in the country.

There were 24 high schools (23,000 students) that took the survey, according to Cowell, showing that 89 percent of the region used. In Medfield, 95 percent (885 students) took the survey.

At the middle school, there were 21 schools participating (nearly 15,000 students). In Medfield, 437 students participated, which was 92 percent. The sixth graders were not included in the survey.

Here's a roundup of the other towns surveyed that make up the MetroWest region: Algonquin Regional, Ashland, Ashabett Valley Regional Technical, Bellingham, Blackstone Valley Vocational, Dover-Sherborn, Framingham, Franklin, Holliston, Hopkinton, Hudson, Keefe Tech, King-Philip, Lincoln-Sudbury, Marlborough, Medway, Milford, Millis, Natick, Needham, Wayland, Wellesley, Westborough.

While these statistics help identify trends for groups like MCAP to develop programs and educate parents and teens, a much larger issue in town remains: the need for greater prevention efforts and engagement, something Medfield Police Chief Robert Meaney and Bob Maguire, Superintendent of Schools, discussed with Medfield resident Tom Mulvoy in the Medfield Patch article: "

Other Content Related to Substance Abuse Prevention in Medfield:

Medfield Board of Selectmen chair Osler Peterson Comments on Teen Alcohol Use

Medfield Board of Selectmen chair Osler "Pete" Peterson expanded on his comment on the Medfield Patch story, "Medfield Community Group Showing it Cares About Substance Prevention" on his blog, "Medfield 02052."

Click here to read his comment on teen alcohol use in Medfield and what he took from MCAP's presentation this past November.