Students feeling good about their school environment may affect their drug use more than the threat of random drug testing, a new study finds.
A survey of high school students found that the possibility that they might face drug testing didn't really discourage them from alcohol, cigarettes or marijuana. But students who thought their school had a positive environment were less apt to try cigarettes and pot.
Those students were about 20 percent less likely to try smoking pot and about 15 percent less likely to light up a cigarette than students who didn't feel that their school was a positive place, the survey found. And the trend held true, more or less, regardless of demographic or geographic factors.
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center looked at 361 high school students across the country. The students were initially interviewed in 2008 as part of the more general National Annenberg Survey of Youth. A year later, researchers followed up and asked participants whether they had tried alcohol, or smoked cigarettes or marijuana. The research was published Monday in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.
A school that has a positive climate might also practice drug testing, an author of the study said – the two aren't mutually exclusive. But this study suggests that administrators concerned about substance abuse might want to try programs that encourage a more respectful school climate before turning to drug testing.
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