Statistics

The parents of more than 28 million school-age children work outside the home.

(U.S. Department of Labor)

At least 7 million and as many as 15 million "latchkey children" go to an empty house on any given afternoon.

(U.S. Census Bureau, Urban Institute estimate, 2002)

Children are more likely to be involved in crime, substance abuse and teen pregnancy In the hours after school, particularly between 3 and 4 pm..

(National Center for juvenile Justice, 1999)

Nearly two-thirds of voters report difficulty in finding quality, affordable programs.

(Afterschool Alliance Poll, 2001)

A 31 state study of afterschool funding found that 75 percent of 2002 requests for federal afterschool support went unfunded, because there was not enough money to go around.

(Afterschool Alliance, March2003)

Students in a statewide program in California improved their standardized test scores in both reading and math by percentages almost twice that of other students. The afterschool participants also had better school attendance.

(University of California Irvine, May 2001)

Students who participates in extracurricular activities have better grades, feel greater attachment to school, have lower truancy rates and reach higher levels of achievement in college, as documented by a 17 year study that followed 1,800 6th graders in 10 Michigan schools through high school and college.

(Education Week, October 2000)
Teens who do not participate in afterschool programs are nearly three times more likely to skip classes than teens who do participate. They are also three times more likely to use marijuana or other drugs, and they are more likely to drinl alcohol, smoke cigarettes and engage in sexual activity.

(YMCA of the USA, March 2001)

Incidents of vandalism, stealing, violent acts and arrests were 50% lower among students in afterschool programs in 12 high risk California communities.

(Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California, August, 2001)

Nine in ten Americans think children need organized activities or a program to go after school where they have learning opportunities.

(Afterschool Alliance Poll, October 2002)

72 persent of voters agree that afterschool programs are an absolute necessity for your community.

(Afterschool Alliance Poll, October 2002)

Arizona Youth Survey Report:

The survey was administered from January through February 2002 in Arizona public and private schools. A random sample drawn from the 15 counties resulted in a total of 12,203 valid surveys from 59 individual schools. This report provides a statewide perspective, however, for the first time, participating schools and county officials will receive community specific data in the form of individual reports to assist in analysis and comparison, as well as for planning strategies and program development.

Due to enhancements made in ACJC's methodology for the 2002 survey, we must caution against comparisons to past survey results, however, it is noteworthy that alcohol is still the most common substance used by Arizona students. In the past month, 46.4% of students have used alcohol, and 69.2% of students have used alcohol in their lifetime. Cigarette use - traditionally the second most used substance for youth and adults - is the third most used by Arizona youth. While regular (30-day) cigarette use is usually higher than marijuana use, results from the survey indicate that more Arizona youth have used marijuana in the past month than have used cigarettes (20.5% compared to 16.5%). Such a shift in past month use, may suggest future directions for Arizona prevention efforts.

Other unexpected results are seen in comparing male and female use. While males have generally tended to have higher use rates of substances, the survey shows that Arizona females actually have higher use rates of alcohol (30-day and lifetime use), cigarettes (30-day and lifetime use), inhalants (30-days), heroin (30-days), methamphetamines (lifetime) and ecstasy (lifetime). In the case of Arizona, we see that an increase in prevention efforts directed towards females could be beneficial.

A comparison of the Arizona Youth Survey and the National Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey is a measure for assessing current substance abuse and risk behaviors of Arizona youth. While students in the national sample tended to experiment with drugs more, and generally had higher lifetime use of most drugs except smokeless tobacco and marijuana, Arizona youth generally had somewhat higher regular/past month use rates of nearly all substances - alcohol, marijuana, inhalants, hallucinogens, methamphetamines, cocaine, steroids, heroin, barbiturates and ecstasy. Complete results can be seen in the table below. The greatest differences in 30-day use are seen when looking at the use of alcohol, marijuana and cocaine. Past month use of alcohol is notably higher for Arizona youth than for youth nationwide. The Arizona Youth Survey results, when compared to the national MTF results, show that for all grades, more Arizona students have used alcohol in the past month than have students in the national sample. Past month use was 8.9% to 12.9% higher for youth in Arizona than for youth in the national sample. Arizona 8th grade students' 30-day alcohol use rate was 12.9% higher than the national sample (34.4% compared to 21.5%), Arizona 10th graders' use rate was 8.9% higher than the national sample (47.9% compared to 39.0%) and Arizona 12th graders' use rate was 9.1% higher than the national sample (58.9% compared to 49.8%).

Alcohol

Cigarettes

Smokeless Tobacco

Marijuana

Inhalants

Hallucinogens

Cocaine

Methamphetamines

Steroids

Heroin

Sedatives

Ecstasy

Arizona & National
Lifetime Use

National

50.5 %
36.6 %
11.7 %
20.4 %
17.1 %
4.0 %
4.3 %
4.4 %
2.8 %
1.7 %
--
5.2 %

Arizona

56.9 %
39.6 %
25.9 %
26.6 %
11.9 %
2.4 %
4.5 %
2.9 %
2.2 %
1.9 %
2.1 %
5.5 %

National

70.1 %
52.8 %
19.5 %
40.1 %
15.2 %
7.8 %
5.7 %
6.4 %
3.5 %
1.7 %
--
8.0 %

Arizona

72.3 %
49.8 %
23.2 %
41.6 %
10.4 %
8.3 %
8.2 %
6.8 %
2.7 %
3.2 %
5.7 %
8.2 %

National

79.7 %
61.0 %
19.7 %
49.0 %
13.0 %
12.8 %
8.2 %
6.9 %
3.7 %
1.8 %
8.7 %
11.7 %

Arizona

80.8 %
61.1 %
24.1 %
50.8 %
10.1 %
12.6 %
12.0 %
8.6 %
2.7 %
3.8 %
7.4 %
2.0 %

Alcohol

Cigarettes

Smokeless Tobacco

Marijuana

Inhalants

Hallucinogens

Cocaine

Methamphetamines

Steroids

Heroin

Sedatives

Ecstasy

Arizona & National
30 Day Use

Arizona

21.5 %
12.2 %
4.0 %
9.2 %
4.0 %
1.2 %
1.2 %
1.3 %
0.7 %
0.6 %
--
1.8 %

National

34.4 %
9.1 %
4.0 %
14.3 %
6.5 %
1.5 %
2.6 %
1.0 %
1.2 %
1.2 %
1.0 %
3.6 %

Arizona

39.0 %
21.3 %
6.9 %
19.8 %
2.4 %
2.1 %
1.3 %
1.5 %
0.9 %
0.3 %
--
2.6 %

National

47.9 %
18.1 %
4.7 %
22.4 %
3.4 %
3.2 %
3.5 %
2.6 %
1.5 %
1.4 %
2.6 %
2.5 %

Arizona

49.8 %
29.5 %
7.8 %
22.4 %
1.7 %
3.2 %
2.1 %
1.5 %
1.3 %
0.4 %
2.8 %
2.8 %

National

58.9 %
23.2 %
5.9 %
25.4 %
2.0 %
3.1 %
4.0 %
2.2 %
0.9 %
1.3 %
3.4 %
3.2 %

More Arizona youth than national youth are using marijuana experimentally. Arizona 30-day and lifetime usage rates of marijuana are higher than national rates for 8th, 10th and 12th grades. Rates of 30-day usage are 2.6% (grade 10) to 5.1% (grade 8) higher for Arizona youth than for the national sample. For lifetime usage, Arizona rates were 1.5% (grade 10) to 6.2% (grade 8) higher than national students.

Total Student Use of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs (ATODs) Overall, Arizona student use of ATODs is at levels that are similar to current national trends. The results for all substances are presented for two prevalence periods: lifetime (whether the students have ever used the substance), and past 30 days (whether the student has used the substance in the last month). The lifetime prevalence period is the best measure of experimentation occurring among students. The 30-day prevalence period is considered the best measure for current use. This report focuses largely on the 30-day use (current use).

Lifetime and 30-Day Use As can be seen in Table 3 and in Figures 1 and 2 on the next two pages, Arizona students used alcohol, marijuana, and cigarettes more than other substances in 2002. A majority of students (69.2% in 2002) have used alcohol in their lifetime, 49.3% of students have used cigarettes in their lifetime, and 38.8% have used marijuana. As for past month use, nearly half (46.4%) of students have used alcohol in the past month. More Arizona students have used marijuana in the past month than have used cigarettes- 20.5% have used marijuana compared to the 16.5% who have used cigarettes. Of the sampled Arizona youth, 4.8% have used smokeless tobacco in the past month and 24.4% have used smokeless tobacco in their lifetime. Use rates of other drugs-inhalants, hallucinogens, cocaine, methamphetamines, steroids, heroin, barbiturates, and ecstasy- ranged from 1.2% (steroids) to 4.1% (inhalants) for past month use and 2.5% (steroids) to 10.9% (inhalants) for lifetime use.

The survey gathers data on current (30-day) and lifetime use.

Survey participants in the 8th, 10th, and 12th grades indicated highest past-month and lifetime use of alcohol, tobacco products, and marijuana.

More Arizona students have used marijuana in the past month than have used cigarettes.

Results from the Arizona Youth Survey show that 20.5% of students have used marijuana in the past month, compared to 16.5% of studentswho have used cigarettes.

ATOD Use by Gender

Typically, males tend to use ATOD substances more than females.

That trend is also somewhat evident when looking at Arizona student results by

gender in Table 5 and Figure 4 on the following page.

In the 2002 survey, for most ATODs, more males than females had used.

However, differences in use were often very similar, and females had higher userates in

several drug categories.

Differences in Male and Female ATOD Use For most substances, the difference in

male use and female use was small.

For example, in 2002, 44.5% of males used alcohol in the past 30-days compared to 48.4% of females.

The greatest difference in usage can be seen in lifetime smokeless tobacco and cigarette use rates.

In the 2002 survey, for lifetime use, 13.9% of males indicated they had used smokeless tobacco, while 4.7% of females indicated they had used.

For lifetime cigarette use, females use at a higher rate (49.7% for females compared to 41.8% of males).

Also, males use marijuana more than females, both in 30-day and lifetime use.

Past month marijuana use for males is 22.2%, while it is 19.1% for females.

Of males, 40.1% have used marijuana at least once in their lifetime, while 36.5% of females have used marijuana.

As indicated before, females have slightly higher use rates than males in several ATOD categories.

For past month use, more females than males used alcohol (48.4% for females compared to 44.5% for males), cigarettes (17.4% compared to 15.7%), inhalants (4.4% compared to 3.7%), and heroin (1.5% compared to 1.2%).

For lifetime use, females had higher use rates of alcohol (69.2% for females compared to 66.5% for males), cigarettes (49.7% compared to 41.8%), methamphetamines (5.4% compared to 5.2%), and ecstasy (8.1% compared
to 7.9%).

80% - 85% of all people set the patterns and course of their lives before the age of 18.

America has seen its greatest increase in "dual income" and "single parent" families, leaving teens alone for extended periods of time.

Teens are facing a decrease in their access to "public facilities" leaving them with no place to call their own.

One in four fourth grade students share that they have easy access to alcohol.

29% of high school seniors admit to smoking marijuana at a friend's house after school.

The habits of "friends" have at least five times more impact on teen drug use than any other lifestyle factor.

The well publicized "Just Say NO" funding for drug prevention programs has been cut by 80%.

Velocity Youth Center Community Survey Overview

Number of house holds surveyed:

Average number in each household:
High-7 Low-1

Average age of children:
Oldest-20 Youngest-10 months

Neighborhoods greatest needs:

#1 Safe place for kids to play
#2 Activities for youth (i.e. sports)
#3 Security

Families greatest needs:

#1 Activities for kids (i.e. games & sports)
#2 Safety
#3 Safe place to play (i.e. community center, playground)

Children's greatest needs:

#1 Safe place to play and activities
#2 Safety, mentorship, transportation

Response to a youth center in the neighborhood:

Yes 51
No 0
N/A 3

Palm Valley Coffeehouse Survey 2001

Results

On August 28, 29, & 30, seventy-six students from Greenway High School participated in our Survey 2001. These are all students who attend our coffee house program during the week.

Students were asked to respond if they had made any of the following lifestyle changes since attending our program. Below are the responses.

The results are as follows:

25 Male students responded

51 Female students responded

23 Began attending the program this year

30 Are second year attendees

18 Have been attending for three years

4 Are still attending for the fourth year

29 Are admitted smokers

21 Do Not Smoke

26 Did not respond

39 Students live with both parents

12 Live with their Mother

2 Live with their Father

2 Live with their Father and Step-Mother

9 Live with their Mother and Step-Father

8 Live with other people
(Gaurdians, Friends, Grandparents, etc)

(The largest age group in attendance are 17 year old females)

6 Quit smoking

22 Stopped using drugs

13 Quit Drinking

5 Chose Abstinence

10 Left an abusive relationship

35 Chose to stay in school when
they considered dropping out

6 Returned home after running away

16 Began attending church