I found a government document that reported 10-20% of students between 6th and 12th grade have reported using cocaine or another form of it. However, it does not indicate how the data was collected or analyzed. It does, on the other hand, report that U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics conducted the study. Although it doesn't report the reason for conducting the survey, I believe it was conducted to show how big of a problem cocaine use is among teenagers which will help give the government a better idea on how to deal with it.
U.S Department of Justice, (2005). School Survey on Crime and Safety. Retrieved April 10 2012, from http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ssocs/tables/scs_2005_tab_07.asp
The scholarly journal that I found reported similar discoveries to those of the government document. It reported that 6% of 12th graders have used cocaine at least once in their lifetime. This article also does not report the reason for collecting the data. I believe this is because the article is used to inform rather than just present the facts and in that case, there is no need to report the reasoning.
National Institute on Health, (March 2012). InfoFacts. National Institute on Drug Abuse
Hi Morgan,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post on the two different sources of statistical information about cocaine users.
That is a pretty powerful statistic there from the Department of Justice about the percentage of 6th-12th graders who reported using cocaine. Is that a percentage of kids out of the entire age group, or a percentage of kids out of the age group that either has been caught using substances or has reported using substances? That would make a huge difference!
The second article that you have found looks like it is from the National Institute of Health, which would also be another government document--thus, not big on giving reasons for collecting the data. Go back to the academic databases (like Academic Search Premier) and do a search for a scholarly journal article that covers a research study on kids who use cocaine.
I look forward to hearing about what you might find!
Sincerely,
Professor Wexelbaum
To me, it seemed like it was the percentage of kids who reported using substances. Which in turn, means that this precent could be much higher due to the fact that many students may not report using a substance because they are afraid of getting in trouble.
ReplyDeleteI found another article on Academic Search Premier that asked when cocaine had an effect on inhibitory control, memory and receptive language. This article had graphs and box and whisker plots that showed that there was a corilation between factors. Adolescents who have been exposed to cocaine had a decrease in these areas by about 12%.
Betancourt. (2011) Adolescents with and without gestational cocaine exposure: Longitudinal analysis of inhibitory control, memory and receptive language. Retrived April 17, 20012 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0892036210001613
Thank you for the clarification on the significance of the percentage, Morgan...that makes a big difference!
ReplyDeleteCocaine is a stimulant and makes a person's brain work faster...doesn't really allow them to reflect on things, so they would have a decrease in inhibition and listening skills.
Sincerely,
Professor Wexelbaum