Results: Iceland May Have Discovered How To Lower Teenage Substance Abuse
Published on 01/22/2017
QUESTIONS
GO to COMMENTS
Comments
1.
1.
In 1998 substance use among adolescents in Iceland was one of the highest in Europe. By 2015, it was among the lowest. The "Youth in Iceland – A Drug Prevention Program" is based on primary prevention work which originated in Iceland in 1998 and is currently being carried out as "Youth in Europe" in over 30 European cities and municipalities, including Helsinki, Bucharest, Oslo, Riga, Sofia and St. Petersburg. Have you heard about this program?
Yes
5%
96 votes
No
95%
1733 votes
2.
2.
A number of measures have been implemented in Iceland in the last two decades to boost protective factors and minimize risk of substance use among adolescents. Government intervention and increased funding, more parental involvement and stricter rules on tobacco and alcohol sales were implemented. Sounds simple, but for some reason American and Canadian policy makers have virtually ignored the results of this study. Several reasons may be the long term commitment on behalf of both the government and private citizens. Here are some of the policies that Iceland has implemented. Which do you see as essential for this to work? Funding was raised for organized recreation such as sport, music, art, dance and other clubs. The aim was to give kids alternative ways to be a part of a group, and to make sure children from low-income families could participate.
28%
505 votes
Parents were encouraged to attend talks on the importance of spending time with their children, and their participation in their lives.
29%
534 votes
Laws were changed so it became illegal to advertise alcohol, and the age restriction on purchasing alcohol was raised to 20 and 18 for buying cigarettes.
22%
405 votes
A law was also passed prohibiting children aged between 13 and 16 from being outside after 10pm in winter and midnight in summer.
21%
384 votes
The government has also set and upheld strict rules on minimum outdoor hours of children and teenagers.
12%
227 votes
The project is all about a social movement around natural highs--around people getting high on their own brain chemistry.
13%
232 votes
This cannot be achieved without a long-term commitment to the national project, and not short-term or only local/community projects
17%
320 votes
All of them are
28%
505 votes
None
33%
610 votes
3.
3.
The results in Iceland are astonishing, and very promising. Between 1997 and 2012, the percentage of kids aged 15 and 16 who reported often or almost always spending time with their parents on weekdays doubled – from 23 per cent to 46 per cent – and the percentage who participated in organised sports at least four times a week increased from 24 per cent to 42 per cent. Meanwhile, cigarette smoking, drinking and cannabis use in this age group plummeted. Do you agree that North America should look into a similar project?
Yes, 100%
36%
661 votes
Yes, with some modifications
24%
448 votes
Not sure
23%
424 votes
No
16%
296 votes
4.
4.
The project seems to further prove that there is a link between lower substance abuse rates in teens and involvement in community sports. When I was a teen (not that long ago) my parents enrolled me in Soccer, gymnastics, dance and karate. I thought the reason I did so well in school and in general was because I was too busy to "get in trouble". Now after studying this project in school, in my Psychology of Sports course, I realize it may be even more than that. The natural endorphins released in sports or physical activity gave me that natural high, and I did not seek it out elsewhere. Do you agree?
Yes
46%
839 votes
No
12%
228 votes
Undecided
42%
762 votes
COMMENTS