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DRUGS & BULLYING FACTS & STATISTICS
The information on this page can be a useful tool for raising awareness and educating your students and staff about drugs and bullying. Here are some ways to use the facts below:
- Read a fact each day over the P.A. during morning announcements.
- Create a trivia contest by making these “true or false” statements or by turning them into multiple-choice questions.
- Delete a word from each statement and have students fill in the blanks from a master Missing Word List.
DRUGS:
- Every day, 185 Americans die from drug overdoses.
- Most deadly drug overdoses are caused by prescription drugs.
- About half of all teens mistakenly think that taking prescription drugs is safer than using illegal street drugs.
- People who repeatedly abuse cough and cold medicines can become addicted to them.
- Alcohol-related motor accidents are one of the leading causes of teen death in the United States.
- There’s no ingredient list for Illegal street drugs like Molly (also know as MDMA and ecstasy). Users have no way of knowing what they’re really taking.
- Tobacco products like cigarettes and chew contain hundreds of poisonous chemicals.
- Taking prescription drugs that are not prescribed to you is against the law.
- People who sniff or “huff” inhalants regularly get headaches and nosebleeds, and may even suffer loss of hearing or sense of smell.
- More than 4 in 10 people who begin drinking before age 15 eventually become alcoholics.
- Repeated use of harmful drugs can change the way your brain works. After a while, without the drug, everyday activities no longer provide stimulation or happiness.
- All drugs, even medicines, can be harmful to your body and brain if not used in the right way.
- Alcohol keeps new brain cells from growing. Young people who drink alcohol can find it harder to learn and remember things.
- Steroids can cause boys’ and girls’ bodies to develop in strange ways. Boys may begin to grow breasts. Girls can end up with deeper voices and facial hair.
- Many drugs are addictive and can change the body and brain to encourage cravings. If drug users don’t use, they begin to feel sick.
BULLYING:
- Nearly a third of U.S. school students report they have been bullied at school.
- About 1 of every 3 young people admit to bullying others in surveys.
- Bullying rarely takes place when the bully and the victim are alone. Most bullying happens in front of other kids.
- More than half of all students have seen some act of bullying in school.
- Often, when bystanders speak up, bullying stops quickly.
- The most common types of bullying are verbal and social (for example, name calling, teasing, spreading rumors, sexual comments). Physical bullying happens less often.
- Most bullying takes place in school, outside on school grounds, and on the school bus.
- All 50 states have passed anti-bullying laws or rules.
- Kids who bully are more likely to get into fights, damage property, and drop out of school.
- Most experts believe that the average bullying episode lasts for only about 40 seconds.
- About 3.2 million students fall victim to bullying every year in the United States.
*Note: The information contained here was gathered from the websites of U.S. government agencies and a variety of reputable nonprofit drug and bullying awareness organizations.
