file photo by Boyd Loving
May 17,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, RHS delivers results of “social norms” poll with some surprising results .According a letter sent out by Principal Thomas A Gorman out of the 400 students who participated over 90% say they never have used tobacco, 61% have not used alcohol in the last 60 days ,76% do not consume alcohol in an average week, 78% never use marijuana , 90% never use marijuana in the average week .
84% of students say they do not go to parties where alcohol is served and 84% say their parents never let them drink alcohol.
Not sure what to make of this , but apparently the huge house party last week that was broken up by Police from Ridgewood , Fair Lawn and Paramus was a one off unusual circumstance ?
Is de-nile more than a river in Eqypt? Or are our kids just way more responsible than we were ?
It’s just not the sixties and seventies anymore. Adults, increasingly, are not drinking hard liquor. And cigarettes, pot and other drugs, if not tried before age 18, are typically no more attractive later in life, and so, fortunately, often never become a part of a given person’s life. The next generation comes along, is not exposed to substance abuse by their parents, and consequently finds no interest in any of that either. This is good news.
As an RHS student- these numbers are completely false. This survey was given on a volunteer-only basis, and to participate, your parent needed to sign a consent form. I didn’t take this survey, and I have never met a single student who did. I believe it was also administered in the RHS campus center with teachers all around. This year, the student editors of the RHS High Times gave their own version of the survey that had much more accurate results (these were only published in print and are not on the website). Every student in RHS and many teachers make fun of the social norms survey and the attempts by the school to push all of the drug/alcohol problems under the rug.
May be true and I hope it is, but 400 students is less than a quarter of the total. Drug and alcohol users may be less likely to respond truthfully if at all
RHS High Times? As in get high? Isn’t that a biased source?
They did one a few years ago and the results were the opposite. It was followed by a crackdown by police looking for parties and the school added their own additional sanctions
You have to question the motivations of the students. This may be their way of saying “of course I would never do that mom!”
Can we get copies of other recent resilts?
Hopefully legalizing Marijuana will get these numbers back up to where they were and stop the oppression of students rights to get high.
Right 10:30, nothing like sounding the alarm for dealing with a known opioid overdose epidemic and at the same time sailing forward with legalization of recreational marijuana. What message are we trying to convey?
Totally false results. Zero credibility.
This must be the result enthusiastically substance-abusing teens wanted to see to avoid near term scrutiny!
…just pointing out the stupidity and selfishness of those who want to legalize marijuana, 11:02.
As someone who conducts many surveys as part of my job in communications, a survey like this is questionable. To start with the people most likely to respond to a survey, take the time out to thoughtfully and honestly do so, are the ones most likely to report positive behaviors. I dont have data on it, but my experience says that those students who are engaging in the less than optimal behaviors arent going to wast their time on a survey or answering honestly. I didnt notice, did it say what % of students responded? Would have been interesting to have also had them gather additional data such as which Elementary school they went to (neighborhood data) and if possible average GPA. If this data was true, we wouldnt be seeing and hearing about it so much. Very concerning. I’d like to figure out how we can actively address this!
400… why don’t we just outlaw alcohol and tobacco too? they do tons more damage and are much more harmful. It was legal until the great depression.Hemp was used for rope and twine and the AMA also opposed making marijuana illegal while certain industries welcomed it. They even mis-spelled the bill. You may want to brush up on history. And I don’t smoke weed either. makes me fall asleep. I’m sure you base your beliefs on that classic flick Reefer Madness…
Data on elementary school attended? Thay would be helpful?
It is not a random sample that you can generalize from.
peesmith… take another toke and go back to watching reruns of Gilligan’s Island
Pesmith, you have found to your dismay that pot makes you fall asleep. Perhaps you can share with the class what it was that you settled on after your exhaustive and comprehensive sampling survey for the best mind-altering substance for your recreational use?