Gallery • 4 Photos

Teen drinking and the use of other illegal substances are factors that have become common problems in today’s society and school systems.  Bear Facts recently conducted a survey about drinking within the school and results showed that only 55% of 256 LZHS students do not engage in the risky behaviors, including drinking.

While a February 2014 Illinois Youth Survey shows that 70% of 1512 LZHS students are not  drinking, some students like Matt Prince, sophomore, are skeptical of the nearly two-year-old results.

“I personally don’t think the 70 percent statistic is true. Most of the people in my friend group and just people that I’m acquainted with do drink. Everytime my friends see a poster or a sign in the hall, they all make comments about it because they know it’s not true,” Prince said. “Nobody actually knows how accurate the survey is.”

Although Bear Facts’ most recent survey proved a 15 percent difference between the survey results of non-drinking students, it is possible that the more recent data collected “is far more likely to be skewed than the Illinois Youth,” according to Melissa Pikul, assistant principal of student services.

“I think we are definitely closer to 70 percent of students not engaging in risky behavior and obviously, we closely monitor our students who are in rehab programs or under great restrictions with their parents. Some may have been police involved and have probation officers that deal with them at school,” Pikul said. “We have ways to gauge how serious this problem, and the depth at which a student may struggle with these risky behaviors.”

While the recent Bear Facts survey concludes that about 45 percent of students are currently drinking, about 65 percent of teens say they had consumed at least one alcoholic drink before the age of 18, according to the 2014 National Survey on Drug and Alcohol Use. However, schools including LZHS are raising awareness and using campaigns to try and keep the amount of teen drinkers to a minimum, according to Pikul.

“The goal for the campaign is that we continue to offer a positive message to our students. Our students feeling safe in this building is the utmost priority. What we’ve learned is that when we have tough situations with students who may have made bad choices at school or may have even been under the influence, can cause a lot of angst for students,” Pikul said. “I think a lot of students play it off like it’s funny or they’re comfortable with it but the reality is they are students that are in danger and we want to reach out and help them.”

Although the numbers of students using alcohol are continually increasing, according to niaaa.nih.gov, students like Lauren Salit, sophomore and supporter of the anti-drinking campaign and administrators like Pikul, hope to continue the current campaigns in order to keep the numbers low and prevent teen alcohol consumption.

“As teenagers, we are all still growing up. It’s not a shock that you have to be 21 to drink legally because your brain is almost developed at that point and you can make better decisions and life choices,” Salit said. “You can’t do that at the age you’re at now, if anything, drinking just makes it worse. Even though some kids might not think twice about the campaign posters, all the information is valid. It’s not worth it to potentially ruin your life over a drink.”