Students Against Destructive Decisions

Underage Drinking

• More than five million high schoolers binge drink at least once a month
  The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.
  
  
• The gender gap in alcohol consumption that for generations separated girls and boys has disappeared among younger teens: male and female ninth graders are just as likely to drink (40 percent vs. 41 percent) and to binge drink (22 percent vs. 20 percent).
  The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University
  
  
• 83 percent of adults who drink had their first drink of alcohol before age 21.
  The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University
  
  
• Individuals who begin drinking before the age of 15 are four times more likely to become alcohol dependent than those who begin drinking at age 21.
  The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University
  
  
• The prevalence of lifetime alcohol abuse is greatest for those who begin drinking at age 14.
  The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University
  
  
• One-third of sixth and ninth graders obtain alcohol from their own homes.
  The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University
  
  
• Children cite other people's homes as the most common setting for drinking.
  The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University
  
  
• Four out of every five (80%) students have consumed alcohol (more than a few sips) by the end of high school.
  Monitoring the Future
  
  
• Two-thirds of twelfth graders report having been drunk.
  Monitoring the Future

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Impaired Driving

• Motor vehicle crashes remain the number one cause of death among youth ages 15 to 20. There were 7,460 youth motor vehicle deaths in 2005.
  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
  
  
• In 2000, there were 2,339 alcohol-related fatalities among youth ages 15-20.
  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
  
  
• It is estimated that 24,560 lives have been saved by minimum drinking age laws since 1975.
  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
  
  
• The highest number of youth motor vehicle fatalities occurs in the summer. In 2000, there were 664 fatalities in July.
  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
  
  
• Although there are more youth fatalities during the week, the percentage of alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes is higher on the weekends. In 2000, 1,319 of 2,776 weekend fatalities were alcohol-related while 1,015 of 3,602 weekday fatalities were alcohol-related.
  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

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Drug Use

• Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug. In 2001, it was used by 76 percent of current illicit drug users.
  SAMHSA
• In 2001, an estimated 8.1 million (3.6 percent) of Americans aged 12 or older had tried "ecstasy" at least once in their lifetime.
  SAMHSA
• Among youths aged 12 to 17, the rate of current illicit drug use was higher for boys (11.4 percent) than for girls (10.2 percent)
  SAMHSA
• In 2002, 53% of twelfth graders reported having used an illicit drug in their lifetime.
  Monitoring the Future

Monitoring the Future

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Violence

• 17.4% of students carried a weapon to school in 2001.
  Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System
  
  
• 33% of students were in a physical fight in 2001.
  Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System
  
  
• 9.5% students were hurt as a result of dating violence in 2001.
  Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System
  
  
• Homicide is the second leading cause of death among 15- to 24-year-olds overall.
  Centers for Disease Control, 2001
  
  
• In 1999, 4,998 youths ages 15 to 24 were murdered -- an average of 14 per day.
  Centers for Disease Control, 2001

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Suicide

• In 2001, 19% of high school students considered suicide.
  Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System Summary, 2001
  
  
• 14.8% of high school students in 2001 made a plan to commit suicide.
  Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System Summary, 2001
  
  
• 8.8% of high school students attempted suicide in 2001.
  Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System Summary, 2001
  
  
• Every 15 minutes a suicide occurs in the United States.
  National Mental Health Awareness Campaign
  
  
• Suicide has ranked among the 10 leading causes of death since 1975.
  National Mental Health Awareness Campaign
  
  
• For every two victims of homicide in the U.S. there are three deaths from suicide.
  National Mental Health Awareness Campaign
  
  
• Suicide is the third leading cause of death among youths ages 15 to 20.
  National Center for Health Statistics
  
  
• Males ages 15 to 19 are five times as likely as females are to commit suicide.
  National Institute for Mental Health
  
  
• The strongest risk factors for suicide in youth are depression, substance abuse and aggressive behavior.
  National Institute for Mental Health

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Eating Disorders

• More than 5 million Americans experience eating disorders.
  Harvard Eating Disorders Center
  
  
• Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder are diseases that affect the mind and body simultaneously.
  Harvard Eating Disorders Center
  
  
• Three percent of adolescent and adult women and 1% of men have anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or binge eating disorder.
  Harvard Eating Disorders Center
  
  
• A young woman with anorexia is 12 times more likely to die than are other women her age without anorexia.
  Harvard Eating Disorders Center
  
  
• Fifteen percent of young women have substantially disordered eating attitudes and behaviors.
  Harvard Eating Disorders Center
  
  
• Between 10% and 15% of those diagnosed with bulimia nervosa are men.
  Harvard Eating Disorders Center
  
  
• Forty percent of fourth graders report that they diet either "very often" or "sometimes."
  Harvard Eating Disorders Center
  
  
• About half of those with anorexia or bulimia have a full recovery, 30% have a partial recovery, and 20% have no substantial improvement.
  Harvard Eating Disorders Center
  
  
• In the United States, conservative estimates indicate that, after puberty, 5-10 million girls and women and 1 million boys and men are struggling with eating disorders including anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, or borderline conditions.
  National Eating Disorders Association
  
  
• Approximately 90-95% of anorexia nervosa sufferers are girls and women.
  National Eating Disorders Association
  
  
• Between 1-2% of American women suffer from anorexia nervosa.
  National Eating Disorders Association
  
  
• Anorexia nervosa is one of the most common psychiatric diagnoses in young women.
  National Eating Disorders Association
  
  
• Anorexia nervosa typically appears in early to mid-adolescence.
  National Eating Disorders Association
  
  
• Bulimia nervosa affects 1-3% of middle and high school girls and 1-4% of college age women.
  National Eating Disorders Association
  
  
• Approximately 80% of bulimia nervosa patients are female.
  National Eating Disorders Association

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Sex, Teen Pregnancy, STDs, HIV/AIDS

Teen Pregnancy

• The United States has the highest rates of teen pregnancy and births in the western industrialized world. Teen pregnancy costs the United States at least $7 billion annually.
  National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
  
  
• Nearly four in 10 young women become pregnant at least once before they reach the age of 20 - nearly one million a year. Eight in ten of these pregnancies are unintended and 79 percent are to unmarried teens.
  National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
  
  
• The teen birth rate has declined slowly but steadily from 1991 to 2001, with an overall decline of 26 percent for those aged 15 to 19.
  National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
  
  
• The younger a teenage girl is when she has sex for the first time, the more likely she is to have had unwanted or non-voluntary sex. Close to four in ten girls who had first intercourse at 13 or 14 report it was either non-voluntary or unwanted.
  National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
  
  
• Teen mothers are less likely to complete high school (only 33% receive a high school diploma) and more likely to end up on welfare (nearly 80% of unmarried teen mothers end up on welfare).
  National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
  
  
• One of every 3 girls has had sex by age 16 and 2 out of 3 by age 18. Two of 3 boys have had sex by age 18.
  National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
  
  
• A majority of both girls and boys who are sexually active wish they had waited. Eight in ten girls and six in ten boys say they wish they had waited until they were older to have sex.
  National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
  
  
• Fewer than half of high school students have had sex.
  National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy

STDs

• Every year 3 million teens--about 1 in 4 sexually active teens -- get a sexually transmitted disease (STD).
  American Social Health Association
  
  
• Chlamydia is more common among teens than among older men and women.
  American Social Health Association
  
  
• Teens have higher rates of gonorrhea than do sexually active men and women aged 20-44.
  American Social Health Association
  
  
• Some studies show that up to 15% of sexually active teenage women are infected with the human papilloma virus (HPV), many with the type of HPV that is linked to cervical cancer.
  American Social Health Association

HIV/AIDS

• Young Americans between the ages of 13 and 24 are still contracting HIV at the rate of 2 per hour.
  Office of National AIDS Policy
  
  
• Half of all new infections are thought to occur in people under 25.
  Office of National AIDS Policy
  
  
• Each year 3,000 adolescents contract sexually transmitted diseases, which is about one in four sexually experienced teens.
  Office of National AIDS Policy
  
  
• Almost 50% of teachers who teach about HIV/AIDS reported spending only one or two class periods on the topic.
  Office of National AIDS Policy
  
  
• Twenty-five percent of U.S. high school students said that they were under the influence of alcohol or drugs when they last engaged in sexual activity.
  Office of National AIDS Policy
  
  
• In a recent survey, 87% of young Americans said they do not believe they are at risk for HIV infection.
  Office of National AIDS Policy

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