The students on the 11-person panel seemed rather “normal” in most ways for this high-achieving school. These kids were on athletic teams, some were in honors courses, active in community service, in the band… they looked like a typical panel of high school students, except they were here to talk about the Youth Risk Behavior Study and what really happens in high school.

I raised my hand and asked “What’s the profile of a substance user (or abuser) here at this school?” They looked around at one another and one of them said “They pretty much look like us.”

In other words, “users” are well disguised because they live in the midst of, and by outward appearance are indistinguishable from, other teenagers.

That got me thinking. So I asked my daughter, eighteen years old at the time, about the profile of a “user.” She immediately said “Popularity.” Wow: her perception is popularity increases one’s chances of using illegal substances.

New data from The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA) supports this perception with real facts…and if you’re parenting teens or working with them you need to know this.

CASA seeks to identify factors that impact teenage substance abuse, and their August 2007 study reveals some alarming data about the extent of drugs and alcohol in our middle and high schools. They refer to “drug infested” schools where “drug dealing and use, drug possession, and drug or alcohol intoxication are common features of school life.” They compare “drug-infested” and “drug-free” schools in many areas, and in the behavior of “popular” students the differences are quite dramatic. Note:

When you look at the “most popular” teens who attend “drug-infested” schools, the usage rates sky-rocket. Compared to popular teens at drug-free schools, those who attend drug-infested schools and consider themselves to be popular are:

and on it goes. You get the picture….

So, as you contemplate your teenager’s social life, be careful what you wish for. Many an experienced parent will tell you of situations where their kids prefered to stay at home and miss some of the big parties because they simply didn’t want to be put in situations over which they had no control.

Don’t be the parent blindly pushing your kid out the door to make friends or be the popular one. While tuned-in parents can support and help a teen whose social life needs some invigoration, it’s best to listen a lot to what your teen is saying, and don’t push too hard.

The facts shown in the CASA study should make you take pause. “Popularity” can come with some difficult pressures for kids to handle.

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