Pubdate: Tue, 06 May 2014
Source: Merritt Herald (CN BC)
Copyright: 2014 Merritt Herald
Contact:  http://www.merrittherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1446
Author: Michael Potestio

RESULTS OF 2013 ADOLESCENT HEALTH SURVEY IN

The results of the 2013 Adolescent Health Survey (AHS) are in, and
they show marijuana and alcohol use are above the provincial average
in School District 58.

Fifty-seven per cent of SD58 students surveyed indicated they have
tried alcohol, which is higher than the provincial average of 45 per
cent. It is on par with the survey from a decade ago which showed 58
per cent of students had tried it.

Marijuana use in the district is higher than the provincial average,
with 32 per cent of students in Nicola-Similkameen reporting they'd
tried it compared to the provincial average of 26 per cent.

Across the province, the most common age for first trying alcohol was
14, with nearly a quarter of respondents indicating that's when they'd
tried it.

Merritt Secondary School principal Bill Lawrence said he's noticed
more issues with marijuana use at Merritt Secondary School than alcohol.

"We had a real rash of it at the beginning of the year," Lawrence
said, noting over the past two months students smoking marijuana at
school seems to have died down.

"The main thing is you can't learn when you're high," he
said.

He said he thinks the district's higher-than-average alcohol use is
indicative of small, rural communities in B.C.

He also pointed out Merritt's low rankings in socio-economic
statistics and the prevalence of drug and alcohol use in the community
as a whole.

"Your school is a reflection of your community, for the most part,"
Lawrence said.

"And much of it's a really good reflection. There's a lot of really
wonderful things about our community, but, definitely, I think we
struggle a little bit with kids who get high and come to school, and
kids who drink," Lawrence said.

Self-esteem reports in SD58 were on par with the provincial average in
the survey, with 84 per cent agreeing or mostly agreeing with the
statement "I usually feel good about myself."

Males were more likely than females to report generally feeling good
about themselves.

More females reported having a mental health condition than males.
Thirteen per cent of females indicated depression compared to five per
cent of males. Similarly, 13 per cent of females indicated having an
anxiety disorder or panic attacks compared to four per cent of males.

In SD58, 88 per cent of students indicated they didn't forego
emotional or mental health services in the last year if they needed
them.

Lawrence said the school's health nurse, social workers, youth mental
health workers and aboriginal support workers are among the resources
MSS has for its students.

"Could we use more? Yeah, probably," he said. "[But] I can't remember
a time where I said, 'Man, this kid needs some youth mental health'
and we didn't get it," Lawrence said.

In a new question for 2013 asking students to rate their overall
mental health, 81 per cent of students across the province reported
good or excellent mental health. However, the gender gap appeared here
as well, with 87 per cent of males responding good or excellent
compared to 76 per cent of females.

That number was lower than the 87 per cent of students who identified
as having good or excellent overall health.

In terms of stress, the gender gap identified in the 2008 AHS
continued and was identified at every age. Thirteen per cent of
females reported feeling extreme stress that prevented them from
functioning properly while five per cent of males reported the same.

The survey also included a new question on sleep, asking students to
report how many hours they'd slept the night before taking the survey.

Twenty-seven per cent of males slept nine hours or more compared to 21
per cent of females.

Seventeen per cent of students surveyed from across the province met
Health Canada's guideline for an hour of moderate to vigorous activity
every day.

The McCreary Centre Society, a Vancouver-based not-for-profit,
administers the survey every five years. The 2013 survey was
administered to about 30,000 public school students between 12 and 19
in 56 of the province's 59 school districts.

The survey covers a wide range of topics, including family, community,
school, technology, sleep, work, mental health and body image.

Lawrence said he thinks MSS has done a good job bringing in speakers
and small group sessions to address the types of concerns that were
brought forward by AHS statistics.

When it comes to these statistics, Lawrence said he doesn't see them
as anything surprising.

"We're kind of on the front lines of that information," he
said.

Lawrence said the statistics are good to know when dealing with
students on an individual basis, but they don't focus school goals
around the information.
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MAP posted-by: Matt