19. Students' reports of drug availability on school property

This indicator repeats information from the 2002 Indicators of School Crime and Safety report.

In 2001, 29 percent of all students in grades 9?12 reported that someone had offered, sold, or given them an illegal drug on school property in the 12 months before the survey.

The availability of drugs on school property has a disruptive and corrupting influence on the school environment (Nolin et al.1997). In the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, students in grades 9?12 were asked whether someone had offered, sold, or given them an illegal drug on school property in the 12 months before the survey. In 2001, 29 percent of all students in grades 9?12 reported that drugs were made available to them on school property (table 19.1). No consistent patterns of increase or decrease were found in the percentage of students who had reported that drugs were made available to them from 1993 to 2001, with between 24 and 32 percent of students reporting that this occurred in each survey year.

Males were more likely than females to report that drugs were offered, sold, or given to them on school property in each survey year (figure 19.1 and table 19.1). For example, in 2001, 35 percent of males reported the availability of drugs, while 23 percent of females did so.

In 1999 and 2001, students? racial/ethnic backgrounds were examined in relation to whether they reported having illegal drugs offered, sold, or given to them on school property (figure 19.2 and table 19.1). In 2001, Black and Asian students were less likely than Hispanic, Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders and students of multiple race/ethnicities to report that drugs were made available to them. While there appear to be other differences among students in various racial/ethnic groups, these estimates are associated with large standard errors and should be interpreted with caution.

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