Social Norms Education at Mountain Ridge Middle School
§ The Social Norms Project is a positive prevention tool used to decrease substance abuse among students. Data is collected through an anonymous survey, taken by students each school year.
§ The objective of the campaign is to educate students about actual vs. perceived use of alcohol, tobacco, and pot, positively influencing their decisions and showing them that the best choice, non-use, is being made by the majority of their peers.
§ Students ranked parents, teachers, doctors and police as the most believable sources of information about substances. Parents and teachers share an important role in this process!
Social norms survey results conducted April, 2007:
Usage of substance Actual Reported Use Perceived Usage by Peers
Alcohol 10% 74%
Cigarette 4% 63%
Marijuana 4% 51%
Parent Conversation Question:
Where do your perceptions of substance usage come from? How many times have
you been with every person of your school and observed teens using alcohol, tobacco or pot? Can perceptions be wrong? What do you want to base your decisions on?
