Every other year, students throughout the ICSD participate in Catalyst Insight’s Community-Level Youth Development Evaluation (CLYDE) Survey. The CLYDE Survey is anonymous and collects self-reported data on topics such as substance use, mental health, bullying, and risk and protective factors from youth between seventh and twelfth grade. Throughout Tompkins County in October 2023, 3713 responses were collected. Responses were verified and eliminated if the student reported using a fictional drug, having an impossibly high level of drug use, not completing enough of the survey, or having inconsistent answers. The results can be viewed from this link.
The survey indicated that the eleventh and twelfth grades had the highest percentage of students who had used alcohol in the past thirty days: 23.4 and 21.7 percent respectively. With a proportion of 10.3 percent, eleventh grade also had the highest percentage of students who had binge drunk in the past two weeks. The most common sources of alcohol among students were from home with the permission of their parents and from parties. Students also commonly reported drinking either at their own home or at someone else’s. Overall, the proportion of students who had used alcohol in the past thirty days decreased from 14.2 percent in 2021 to 12.1 percent in 2023.
At 19.4 percent, students in twelfth grade were most likely to have used or vaped marijuana in the past thirty days. The survey also indicated that higher grades were less likely to perceive marijuana as a harmful substance. Even so, all grades were more likely to perceive marijuana as harmful in 2023 than in 2021, and this was also associated with a slight overall decline in the use of marijuana from ten percent in the last thirty days in 2021 to eight percent in 2023.
At seven percent, students in the twelfth grade were also most likely to have smoked a cigarette in the past thirty days. An overwhelming majority of students across all grades perceived cigarettes as posing a moderate or great risk to health. Eleventh grade had the largest percentage of students, 11.7, who had vaped nicotine in the past thirty days. While perceived harm of e-cigarettes was fairly consistent, around seventy-five percent across grades, perceived peer disapproval was lower for higher grades.
The percentage of students engaged in bullying decreased as grade level increased, and the percentage of students being bullied was also lower for higher grades. However, the percentage of people bullying and being bullied has increased since 2021. On the other hand, the percentage of students who reported feeling depressed most days, that life is not worth it, or that they are “no good at all” decreased between 2021 and 2023.
The survey also identified the most common risk and protective factors for students who were and were not using drugs. The greatest risk factors were a low commitment to school, parental attitudes favorable toward drug use, familial conflict, and attitudes favorable toward antisocial behavior. The most common protective factors against drug use were social skills and opportunities for social involvement in school and the community. These risk and protective factors were also the most common among students surveyed in 2021.
The 2023 CLYDE survey identified many positive trends, such as a general decrease in substance use, but it also highlighted concerning ones, such as the increase in bullying. These results are imperative for identifying concerns in the community and developing prevention methods. IHS is expected to participate in the next CLYDE survey early next school year.
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