Teenagers know drug users

Nearly six out of ten teenagers say that they know a drug user,
according to a report from research organisation the Schools Health
Education Unit.

The survey of 15,526 young people aged between 10 and 15 finds
that 58 per cent of 14 to 15-year-olds are “fairly
sure” or “certain” that they know a drug user.
Around one in five of this age group said they had tried at least
one drug, with a fifth saying they had mixed drugs and alcohol on
the same occasion.

The survey asked the young people about various aspects of their
lives. More than a third of 10 to 11-year-old girls said they were
afraid of going to school because of bullying, while a quarter of
14 to 15-year-old boys said that they would keep any problems with
bullying to themselves.

Three quarters of the young people interviewed considered
condoms to be the most reliable form of contraception to stop
pregnancy. More than half of the older girls knew about birth
control services for young people, but as many as four in ten older
boys did not know where to get free condoms.

Between the ages of 12 to 15 information about sex was more
likely to be learned from friends, rather than from parents or
school lessons. However the young people said that parents and
schools should be the main source of this information.

Young People in 2003 from
http://www.sheu.org.uk/pubs/yp03.htm