2015-2016 PAYS

Results & Reflections for Quakertown Community School

District
ATOD Use and Access
High Prevalence/Early Initiation Drugs
First and most commonly abused by youth
Alcohol

Tobacco

Marijuana

Inhalants

Because these drugs are viewed as more socially acceptable, their

use may normalize the larger idea of drug use as acceptable

Another potential risk is their use may prime the brain for
addiction to other substances
Alcohol
Alcohol including beer, wine, and hard liquor is the drug used most
often by adolescents today

PAYS question:

How many times (if any) have you had beer, wine, or hard liquor in
your lifetime/during the past 30 days?
38.7% QCSD

44% for Bucks County

43.9% for PA
Marijuana
Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug

PAYS question:

How many times (if any) have you used marijuana (pot, hash,
cannabis, weed) in your lifetime/during the past 30 days?
12.7% QCSD

18% for Bucks County

17.3% for PA
Tobacco
Tobacco (including cigarettes and smokeless tobacco) was the
second most commonly used drug among adolescents. National
smoking rates, however, have declined substantially in recent years

PAYS questions:
Have you ever smoked cigarettes? How frequently during the past 30 days have you
smoked cigarettes? Have you ever used smokeless tobacco (chew, snuff, plug, dipping
tobacco, chewing tobacco)? How frequently during the past 30 days have you used
smokeless tobacco?
Prescription Narcotics
Prescription Narcotics are used primarily to manage pain, but are
also sought after for the accompanying euphoria. The number of
opioid prescriptions received by patients seeking pain treatment
has nearly doubled in the last decade.

PAYS questions:
How many times (if any) have you used prescription pain relievers (such as Vicodin,
OxyContin, Percocet, or Codeine) without a doctors orders, in your lifetime/during the
past 30 days?
Risky Substance Use-Related Behaviors
6% of QCSD students engaged in binge drinking in the past two
weeks
8.8% in Bucks County
7.8% at the state level

0.9% of QCSD students reported driving while or shortly after

drinking
1.7% in Bucks County
2.4% at the state level
Access to Alcohol
38.9% of students chose family/religious celebration as their most
frequent source/method of obtaining the alcohol they used

35.7% said friends, brothers, or sisters provided it to me

30.4% said parents or friends parents provided it to me

Prescription Drug Access
59.2% of students chose a friend or family member gave them to
me as their most frequent source/ method of obtaining the
prescription drugs they used without a doctors prescription
(compared to 41.8% at the state level)

34.7% said they took them from a family member living in my

home (compared to 41.0% at the state level)
Bullying
Bullying
Bullying in schools contributes to:
Lower attendance rates

Lower student achievement

Low self-esteem

Depression

Higher rates of juvenile and adult crime

Cyber bullying is inescapable as adolescents are deeply intertwined

with texting and social media
Bullying - Results
16.6% of QCSD students reported being bullied, compared to 16.9%
at the state level

Students most commonly reported being bullied 3 to 4 times per

week

As for where, students reported on school property as the most

common location while home was second
Bullying - Results
Students reported being bullied about:
The way they look (clothing, hairstyle) - 37.4% of students

Their size (height, weight) - 34.7% of students

Grades or achievement in school - 20.7% of students

Social standing - 22.4% of students

Social conflict - 19.7% of students

Some other reason - 34.7% of students

Unsure - 34.4% of students

All of these reasons were above the state average

Bullying - Results
On a positive note, a majority of students across all grade levels
reported that students think bullying is wrong and that parents do
as well

Students also reported that adults in the school stop bullying when
they see/hear it and when it is reported to them
Social & Emotional Health
Social & Emotional Health
Nationwide:
20% of adolescents have a diagnosable mental disorder

33% show signs of depression

Mental health disorders disrupt school performance, harm

relationships and can ultimately lead to suicide

Stigma regarding mental health disorders inhibits adolescents and

their families from seeking help
Less than 50% of adolescents that need mental health services receive them

Knowing the importance of emotional intelligence can teach

students how to cope effectively and enter adulthood healthy
Social & Emotional Health
In QCSD students were asked:
In the past 12 months have you felt depressed or sad MOST days, even if you feel
OK sometimes?

Do you think you are no good at all?

Do you think life is not worth it sometimes?

How many times in the past 12 months have you done something to harm
yourself?

Did you ever seriously consider suicide?

Did you make a plan about how you would attempt suicide?
 Social & Emotional Health - Results
How did students in QCSD and PA respond?
Students in QCSD* Students in PA*

Engaged in self-harm in the last 14.4% 15.1%

12 months

Felt sad or depressed MOST 36.1% 38.3%

days in the last 12 months

Think life is not worth it 20.5% 23.9%

sometimes

Think they are no good at all 32.3% 34.7%

Inclined to think they are a 18.8% 19.9%

failure
* Percentages represent an overall report from all grade levels. Each grade was even with or slightly below
the state average.
 Social & Emotional Health - Results
How did students in QCSD and PA respond?
Students in QCSD* Students in PA*

So sad stopped doing usual 22.1% 21.5%

activities (10th graders: 25.7%) (10th graders: 23.9%)
(12th graders: 26.8%) (12th graders: 25.4%)

Considered suicide 16.1% 16.0%

Planned suicide 11.6% 12.7%

Attempted suicide 9.5% 9.5%

(12th graders: 14.3%) (12th graders: 11.2%)

Needed medical treatment for 2.2% 2.3%

suicide attempt

* Percentages represent an overall report from all grade levels. Grades that exceeded the state
average were noted.
Social & Emotional Health - Results
Stressful events can also impact a students mental health and
readiness for learning

What are stressful events in QCSD?

Changing homes (12.2% of students in the past 12 months, 4.3% changed homes 3 or more
times in 3 years)

Worry over running out of food at home due to money issues (14.5% of students)

Skipping meals due to money issues (8.2% of students)

Unstable home life due to homelessness, being abandoned, runaways (6.4% of students)

Worry over running out of food was higher than state average in
grades 6 and 8 while skipping meals was higher in grades 8 and 12
Risk Factors
Risk Factors
Risk factors are conditions across communities, families, school and
peers/individuals that increase the likelihood of:

Becoming involved in drug or alcohol use

Delinquency

School dropout and/or violence

Teen pregnancy

Depression and anxiety

Risk Factors
Community examples
Low neighborhood attachment

Perceived availability of drugs or handguns

Family examples
Family history of antisocial behavior

Family conflict

Parental attitudes favorable toward drugs and antisocial behavior

School examples
Academic failure
Risk Factors - Results
Highest community risk factors
Low neighborhood attachment (38% of students)

Perceived availability of drugs or handguns (31% and 25% of students,

respectively)

Laws and norms favorable to drug use (34% of students)

Highest family risk factors

Poor family management (33% of students)

Family conflict (31% of students)

Parental attitudes favorable toward drugs and antisocial behavior (43% of

students)
Risk Factors - Results
Highest peer/individual risk factors
Interaction with antisocial peers (24% of students)

Attitudes favorable to antisocial behavior and drug use (31% and 32% of students,
respectively)

Perceived risk of drug use or friends using drugs (40% and 24% of students,
respectively)

Rewards for antisocial behavior (28% of students)

Protective Factors
Protective Factors
Protective factors are conditions across communities, families, school
and peers/individuals that exert a positive influence and buffer youth
against the negative influence of risk factors
Protective Factors
Community examples
Rewards for prosocial involvement

Family examples
Family attachment

Opportunities for prosocial involvement

Rewards for prosocial involvement

School examples
Opportunities for prosocial involvement

Rewards for prosocial involvement

Protective Factors - Results
Community examples
Rewards for prosocial involvement (45% of students)

Family examples
Family attachment (67% of students)

Opportunities for prosocial involvement (63% of students)

Rewards for prosocial involvement (65% of students)

School examples
Opportunities for prosocial involvement (52% of students)

Rewards for prosocial involvement (58% of students)

Risk Factors vs. Protective
Factors
Risk Factors vs. Protective Factors
6th graders reported:
Higher risk factors of parental attitudes
favorable toward antisocial behaviors and
sensation seeking behavior
&
Lower protective factors rewards for
prosocial involvement in the community,
religiosity, and opportunities for prosocial
involvement within their families
8th graders reported:
Higher risk factors of low neighborhood
attachment, parental attitudes favorable
toward antisocial behaviors and drug use
as well as depressive symptoms
&
Lower protective factors rewards for
prosocial involvement in the community,
religiosity, and opportunities for prosocial
involvement within their school
Risk Factors vs. Protective Factors
10th graders reported:
Higher risk factors of low neighborhood
attachment, parental attitudes favorable
toward antisocial behaviors and drug use,
low commitment toward school, perceived
risk of drug use as well as attitudes
favorable toward antisocial behavior
& drug use
Lower protective factors rewards for
prosocial involvement in the community,
religiosity, and opportunities for prosocial
involvement within their school
12th graders reported:
Higher risk factors of low neighborhood
attachment, parental attitudes favorable
toward antisocial behaviors and drug use,
low commitment toward school, academic
failure, depressive symptoms, perceived
risk of drug use as well as attitudes
favorable toward antisocial behavior and
&
Lower protective factors rewards for
prosocial involvement in the community,
religiosity, and opportunities for prosocial
involvement within their school