Drug Use in School May Signal Even Worse Troubles
Don't get mad if your child is caught doing drugs in school. A new study has found that t eens caught drinking or using marijuana at school should be screened for exposure to trauma, mental health problems and other serious health risks, according to newswise.com. It may be a cry for help. UCLA researchers found that the use of substances at school was associated with significantly increased odds of serious problems such as depression, being the victim of intimate-partner violence and attempting suicide, the Web site reports. "At-school substance use is not just an isolated event requiring simple disciplinary action but an important signal identifying teens in need of urgent psychosocial assessment and support," said lead author Dr. Rebecca N. Dudovitz, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA and the UCLA Children's Discovery and Innovation Institute, at newswise.com. In the study, students who reported using either alcoh...