Central Theme results for demographic subgroups indicate some differences between groups. Elementary school children are most in favor of the "Law" as the solution. Middle and high school students express more concern about drug problems. Males recommend the "Law" more than females, whereas females are more in favor of drug education than males. A similar comparison between alternative and non-alternative schools found that alternative school students state "We have a drug problem" more often than other students. A comparison of elementary schools by school zone revealed virtually no differences. Page 7 34-618 O - 90 - 8 The component sub-themes of each Central Theme provide specific information about the thoughts and recommendations of students. The major components of the two largest Central Themes are: Student thoughts are rich in feeling and emotion and provide an understanding of how drugs are affecting students. Typical examples for each of the Central Themes are shown below. (Actual student spelling and grammar are used.) The "Law" should solve the problem. "Catch the people that do the drugs and put them in jail for about 40 years and if a second put them in jail for life." "The people that are drug user and drug pusher should be locked up but with a strickter sentence instead of probation or the year program." "I think you shoul put cops on evre street in columbus to stop drugs." "I think the law should put more patrol officers in neighborhoods with crack houses and stay on surveilance 24 hours a day." "I think we should see them burn all the drugs up in the world and go in to the world and either hide the ashes or put them in a safe." "I think drugs should be transported in the middle of the ocean and dumped so that they can't find it." We Have a Drug Problem "My community is just drugged out. The look of people makes you sick let alone the popularity of dealing." "Drugs are getting to be a problem around shool's and we need help." "You can't hardly go to the restroom in a fast food place let alone at school without people being in there selling drugs or taking them." "You don't have to go to the crackhouses or streets. anything you want." Go to school and you can get Page 9 "People constantly approach me and bother me, trying to sell me drugs or they ask me if I want to sell any. That wouldn't bother me as much if it wasn't in school." "The drug are geting bader and bader evrey day and we need to stop it before evryone starts dieing.' Drugs are Harmful "It can hurt you real bad and kill you in a heartbeat and it can kill entenstly." "It is killing the population of the world and it is hazardous to peoples health." "I plan on going to college and pursuing a career, and if you get on drugs, all of your More Drug Education is Needed "I think we should have like a spachel room for all the people to go talk about thear problem." "Education should play the key role in alerting the community about the horrors of drug abuse." "I think drug abuse can be stopped by telling kids it could kill them, I know you have been telling us that for years, but really put it to them. Try to scare them so that they won't want to try drugs." Just Say No "Don't be stupid, don't take drugs." "I think everybody who has drug problems should stop." "This is what I think kids should do. Jeut say no to drugs, then run like crazy. Page 10 The findings of this study identify the thoughts and concerns of school children about drugs. The specific (quantitative) portions of the findings apply only to the students who wrote letters, as the letters were not from a random sample of the whole school population. The thoughts and suggestions that are identified can provide insights into the way school children think about drugs. Findings can be used with confidence to guide the design, development, and selection of new programs against drug abuse or to direct future research at specific aspects of the drug problem. Page 11 |