The Facts:

1. 10% of Cambridge 6-8th graders have already had at least one alcoholic drink in the past 30 days.

2. 50% of high school students in Cambridge have had alcohol or drugs in the past 30 days. 28% of high school students in Cambridge drank enough at least one time in the past 30 days to feel drunk or high.

3. Only 50% of Cambridge teens report that their parents have talked to them about drugs and alcohol. 

4. Teens who learn anti-drug messages at home are 42% less likely to use drugs.  

5. Cambridge youth who are left unsupervised after school are twice as likely to use drugs and alcohol as kids who are supervised.  

6. Eighth graders who are always supervised after school are half as likely to experiment with cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana.

7. Over half of all Cambridge kids are in after-school programs.

8. Both volunteer work and participation in organized extra-curricular activities are associated with lower levels of many risk behaviors, especially those related to substance use and violence.  

Sources:

• Cambridge Middle Grades Health Survey 2006-2007 www.cambridgema.gov/dhsp2/cpcinfo.cfm.
• Cambridge Teen Health Survey 2005-2006 www.cambridgema.gov/dhsp2/cpcinfo.cfm.
• The Medical Foundation, www.tmfnet.org
• Richardson, et al., Substance Use Among Eighth-Grade Students Who Take Care of Themselves After-School, Pediatrics, v. 84, no. 3, September 1989.
• McNeal, R.B. (1999). Participation in high school extracurricular activities: Investigating school effects.  Social Science Quarterly, 80, 291-309.
• Mahoney, J.L. (2000). School extracurricular activity participation as a moderator in the development of antisocial patterns.  Child Development, 71, 502-516.