ABSTRACT
The prevention of substance abuse among children and adolescents has been a concern of educators for several decades. Prevalence rates of substance abuse among youth have been tracked consistently by the federal government because of potential negative effects on health, as well as academic, social, and emotional development. Monitoring the Future is an annual study, which was initiated in 1975 and is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (please visit https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugpages/MTF.html" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">www.drugabuse.gov/drugpages/MTF.html). It is comprised of surveys of nationally representative samples of students in secondary schools throughout the United States (Johnston, O’Malley, Bachman, & Schulenberg, 2010). This survey studies the extent of substance use for students in the 8th, 10th, and 12th grades, as well as attitudinal indicators, including perceived risk of harm in taking a drug, disapproval of others who take drugs, and perceived availability of drugs.
