Social Norms
The goal of this exercise is to correct the misperception
that most young people use illicit drugs, alcohol or tobacco.
- Begin this exercise by having your students make their own estimates
about young people's use of the listed substances.
- Ask your students to make two tables like the one below or create
a set of tables on a handout for them to fill in.
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2000 Monitoring the Future Survey
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Lifetime
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Lifetime
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Lifetime
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Past Month
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Past Month
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Past Month
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8th Grade
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10th Grade
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12th Grade
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8th Grade
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10th Grade
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12th Grade
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Any Illicit Drugs
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Marijuana
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Inhalants
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Steroids
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Been Drunk
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Methamphetamine
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Cigarettes
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- Ask your students to fill in the table with their estimates of the
percentage of youth in 8th, 10th and 12th grade that they think have:
(1) ever tried the substance in their lifetime, and (2) used it in the
last 30 days.
- Assign your students to divide up into six groups, one for each drug.
- Assign them to average the estimate of each group member for its row
of information and create a line or bar graph to share their group's
estimates with the rest of the class.
- Assign your students to fill in a second chart with the national survey
data on these same questions from the "Monitoring the Future"
survey which can be found at: http://www.prevlink.org/catalog/stats/monitoringfuture.pdf
. To locate the data, click on Tables, then on Table 1 and Table
2 to find the information you need. (You may want to print these tables
out and copy them for use by your students if they do not all have computer
access.
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2000 Monitoring the Future Survey
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Lifetime
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Lifetime
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Lifetime
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Past Month
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Past Month
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Past Month
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|
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8th Grade
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10th Grade
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12th Grade
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8th Grade
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10th Grade
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12th Grade
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Any Illicit Drugs
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26.8
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45.6
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54.0
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11.9
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22.5
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24.9
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Marijuana
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20.3
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40.3
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48.8
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9.1
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19.7
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21.6
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Inhalants
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17.9
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16.6
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14.2
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4.5
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2.6
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2.2
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Steroids
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3.0
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3.5
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2.5
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0.8
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1.0
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0.8
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Been Drunk
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25.1
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49.3
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62.3
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8.3
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23.5
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32.3
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Methamphetamine
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4.2
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6.9
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7.9
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0.8
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2.0
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1.9
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Cigarettes
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40.5
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55.1
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62.5
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14.6
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23.9
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31.4
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- Assign your students to add the national data from their second table
to their graph to show how their group's averages compare with the results
of the "Monitoring the Future Survey."
- Have your students discuss how accurate their group's averages were
compared to the national survey data. Ask them if a greater or smaller
percentage of young people used illicit drugs, alcohol and cigarettes
than they thought. Ask them why they think their averages were different
than the survey data.
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