Importance of Sleep Time for Youth

In this study, researchers analyzed data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey from 2007 until 2015, and report that more than two thirds of teens are getting fewer than eight hours of sleep per night. Adolescents who get fewer than six hours of sleep at night were more than twice as likely to report alcohol and other drug use, nearly twice as likely to be involved in fights and three times as likely to consider or attempt suicide, compared with those who slept for at least eight hours at night. 

Weaver, M. D., Barger, L. K., Malone, S. K., Anderson, L. S., & Klerman, E. B. (2018). Dose-dependent associations between sleep duration and unsafe behaviors among US high school students. JAMA Pediatrics. https://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2018.2777

School Crime and Safety

A joint effort by the National Center for Education Statistics and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, this annual report examines crime occurring in schools and colleges. This report presents data on crime at school from the perspectives of students, teachers, principals, and the general population from an array of sources—the National Crime Victimization Survey, the School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, the School Survey on Crime and Safety, the Schools and Staffing Survey, EDFacts, and the Campus Safety and Security Survey. The report covers topics such as victimization, bullying, school conditions, fights, weapons, the presence of security staff at school, availability and student use of drugs and alcohol, student perceptions of personal safety at school, and criminal incidents at postsecondary institutions.

Musu-Gillette, L., Zhang, A., Wang, K., Zhang, J., Kemp, J., Dilibert, M., & Oudekerk, B. (2017). Indicators of school crime and safety: 2017. Washington, D.C.: National Center for Education Statistics, & the Bureau of Justice Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018036.pdf

Teen drug use study

U.S. teens less involved overall with illicit drugs
U.S. teenagers are less likely to use drugs than a decade ago, but ecstasy and prescription-drug abuse are still at worrying levels. "The cumulative declines since recent peak levels of drug involvement in the mid-1990s are quite substantial, especially among the youngest students."
U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2007). Monitoring the future. Washington, DC:
U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse
http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/

Drug use study

About 80 percent of teenagers in high school have witnessed drug dealing and drug use, and 31 percent of high school students and 9 percent of middle school students see such activity at least once a week, says a report from Columbia University. Twenty-four percent of teenagers surveyed said they view drugs as the primary problem for them and their peers, the report says, while only 11 percent of parents deemed drugs the primary concern. Forty-five percent of parents said that the primary problem for teenagers is social pressure. The annual report includes survey results from more than 1000 young people ages 12 to 17, and from 550 parents.
National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. (2007). The National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse XII: Teens and Parents. New York: National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse.
http://www.casacolumbia.org/absolutenm/articlefiles/380-2007%20Teen%20Survey%20XII.pdf

Drug education study

Study: Peer-based anti-drug programs more effective
High-risk teens are about 15% less likely to use drugs when they participate in peer-led substance abuse prevention programs than in a similar educator-led class, according a study by researchers at the University of Southern California. "Generally, our study emphasizes the power of peers," said Thomas Valente, a USC assistant professor of preventive medicine. "We found that social network-tailored prevention curricula can be very successful in achieving long-term behavioral changes in teenagers."
Valente, T. (2007). Peer acceleration: effects of a social network tailored substance abuse prevention program among high-risk adolescents. Addiction,102(11),1804-1815.

Drug use study

Survey: U.S. teens say school drug problems on the rise
Some 61% of high school students and 31% of middle-school students say their schools have problems with drugs, according to a Columbia University survey released today. That's up from 44% at high schools and 19% in middle schools in 2002.
MSNBC/Associated Press (8/16)