A trio of epidemiologists and officials presented Grant County's results of the Youth Risk and Resiliency survey given in 2013 to Middle and High School students. Both Silver and Cobre Consolidated Schools participate in the national survey to track healthy, and not-so-healthy, behaviors of students. (From left to right) Dan Green, NM Department of Health; Gabriella Abousleman, NM Public Education Department and Dr. Linda Peñaloza, UNM Prevention Research Center.

Silver City, New Mexico, November 21, 2014: The good news is the kids are alright, or at least, getting better concerning alcohol use and school violence in Grant County, according to Dan Green, epidemiologist for the New Mexico Department of Health. In areas, like youth behavioral health issues, prescription drug abuse, and tobacco use, especially of newer products like electronic cigarettes, Grant County is working to offer more support to meet students' reported needs.

Last week, Dan Green, and his colleagues, reported the results of the Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey (YRRS) given in 2013 to the community. The survey gauges the healthy, and not-so-healthy, behaviors of Middle and High School students across the nation.

The presentation was a partnership between the New Mexico Department of Health, the New Mexico Public Education Department, and the University of New Mexico Prevention Research Center to report youth health and wellness trends back to the communities that participated in the survey.

Cobre and Silver Consolidated Schools have participated in the national survey since 2001, and had a response rate of 84 percent on the 2013 survey. Green praised the local school districts' efforts, "This is high-quality data we have on Grant County's youth thanks to the schools' commitment to participate."

In Grant County, the YRRS shows a continued decline in self-reported risky behaviors by youth. The downward trends include youth alcohol use, school violence and suicide attempts. In these risk factors, Green said, "Grant County looks very much like the New Mexico data, which has been declining."

Green said the rate of youth reported feeling "sadness or hopelessness almost every day for 2 or more weeks" in Grant County, 28 percent, is slightly lower than the state's average of 31 percent. Suicide attempts, and reported injuries from those attempts, have dropped significantly over the last decade, but the YRRS has added a new question on self-harm without the intent to commit suicide, directly addressing behaviors like cutting.

Green said the self-harm question was added to the survey as a result of requests received the southern part of the state. Almost 19 percent of Grant County High School students reported harming themselves in the last year, close to the state average of 20 percent.

School Health Coordinator of Silver Consolidated Schools, Aimee Jaurequi, said, "This is a big concern being seen by our school nurses, especially Middle and High School. Self-harm is an issue that needs to be taken seriously. Students are using these behaviors to ask for help when they don't know how to verbalize. We refer students to school counselors or counselors available at the School-Based Health Centers. Parents seeing cutting behavior can seek help through the schools or community behavioral health providers."

There has also been an increase in youth reporting tobacco use, which had previously been on the decline. Over 32 percent of Grant County High School students report currently using "any tobacco" product, this percent includes cigarettes, cigars, spit tobacco products as well as the newer tobacco products like electronic cigarettes and hookas.

Green said the 2015 YRRS will most likely have a specific question on youth electronic cigarette usage, "The nature of the tobacco industry is changing, and we are trying to keep the survey relevant."

Another concern is prescription pain killer use among youth. Over 11 percent of Grant County youth reported using painkillers to 'get high' in the past 30 days, slightly higher than the state's average of 8.5 percent. To address this issue locally, the Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition (YSAPC) is partnering with the Grant County Sheriff's Department to make prescription drug drop boxes available for residents to properly dispose of unused prescription drugs. Currently, there is only sporadic drug drop off days held for residents to dispose of their used prescription drugs, with very limited hours.

YSAPC member, Undersheriff Kevin Flamm said, "Drop boxes are important, because people don't know what to do with unused drugs. People store unused prescription drugs in medicine cabinets and forget about them, which gives easy access for someone to get ahold of the drugs to abuse and/or sell."

The YSAPC will be holding a Town Hall on public school policies, especially regards to substance abuse, on Wednesday, December 3, 2014 from 6 to 7 p.m. in the WNMU Global Resource Center on the corner of 12th and Florida Streets. The public is invited to attend. For more information call (575) 388-1198 ext. 24.

The YRRS survey results, including New Mexico and Grant County, are available at www.youthrisk.org. School District results are available upon requests from the school district's superintendent but requests can also be made at the previously mentioned website.

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