Posted: 6/4/03

S.A.D.D. survey reveals facts about student smoking

This past spring the S.A.D.D. (Students Against Destructive Decisions) Chapter at the Forest Lake High School surveyed their classmates to get some idea on how prevalent tobacco use is in their school.

Before the survey, many students informally reported they thought ìmost kids use tobaccoî or ìsmoking is widespread.î

What students think, however, is sometimes far removed from reality. It seems that although any tobacco by teens is a poor choice, tobacco use rates are not as high as students think. In the U.S. today, 23 percent of adults are smokers.

Questions asked in the survey queried whether students smoke, if they ever smoked, how early they first lit up and asked for reasons about studentsí decision to smoke or not.

The survey also asked for opinions regarding the legal smoking age, whether smoking has affected their health, and feelings about others who smoke.

It also offered help for students who wanted to kick the habit.

Here is the breakdown on the S.A.D.D. survey results. Individuals with questions about the Forest Lake High School S.A.D.D. Chapter may contact coordinators Pamela Mercer at 982-8408 or Chuck Moses at 982-8345.

There are a total of 1679 students at Forest Lake High School. Out of those numbers, 52 percent of sophomores responded, 49 percent of the juniors responded and 32 percent of the seniors responded.

Of the sophomore males who responded, 18 percent reported smoking and 82 percent reported not smoking. Figures for sophomore females were the same as their male classmates.

Of the junior males responding, 20 percent said they are smokers while 80 percent said they are not smokers. Slightly fewer female juniors smoke, 17 percent, while 83 percent of junior females do not smoke.

The highest percentage, 32 percent of senior males responding said they smoke, while 65 percent said they do not. Of senior females, 24 percent said they do smoke, while 75 percent said they do not.

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