America's Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2010

Behavior

Adolescent participation in high-risk or illegal behaviors can have severe, long-term consequences for the individuals, their families, and for society. Substance use behaviors include smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, and using illicit drugs. Other risky behaviors include early sexual activity and participation in violent crime.

Smoking has serious long-term consequences, including the risk of smoking-related diseases and premature death.²⁶ In addition, there are increased health care costs associated with treating smoking-related disease. The percentage of adolescents who smoke regularly has reached its lowest level since monitoring began. In 2009, less than 3 percent of 8th-graders reported smoking cigarettes daily (Figure 10). This percentage is a decline from the peak in 1996, when over 10 percent of 8th-graders reported smoking cigarettes daily. In 2009, 6 percent of 10th-graders and 11 percent of 12th-graders reported smoking cigarettes daily—down from peaks of 18 percent of 10th-graders in 1996 and 25 percent of 12th-graders in 1997.

Figure 10: Percentage of 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students who reported smoking cigarettes daily in the past 30 days by grade, 1980–2009

Alcohol use by adolescents can also have severe consequences; it is associated with problems in school, fighting, crime, and motor vehicle accidents, injuries, and deaths.²⁷ Early onset of heavy drinking, defined here as five or more alcoholic beverages in a row during a single occasion in the previous 2 weeks, may be especially problematic, potentially increasing the likelihood of these negative outcomes. Between 1999 and 2009, heavy drinking declined from 13 percent to 8 percent among 8th-graders, from 24 percent to 18 percent among 10th-graders, and from 31 percent to 25 percent among 12th-graders. In 2009, 8 percent of White, non-Hispanic, 5 percent of Black, non-Hispanic, and 12 percent of Hispanic 8th-grade students reported heavy drinking.²⁸ Among 10th-graders, 18 percent of White, non-Hispanic students, 10 percent of Black, non-Hispanic students, and 21 percent of Hispanic students reported heavy drinking. The percentages of White, non-Hispanic, Black, non-Hispanic, and Hispanic 12th-grade students reporting heavy drinking in 2009 were 29 percent, 12 percent, and 23 percent, respectively.

Illicit drug use is a risk-taking behavior that has potentially serious negative consequences. Recent illicit drug use among youth remained unchanged from 2008 to 2009. In 2009, 8 percent of 8th-graders, 18 percent of 10th-graders, and 23 percent of 12th-graders reported illicit drug use in the past 30 days. These statistics represent declines from peaks of 15 percent for 8th-graders and 23 percent for 10th-graders in 1996 and 26 percent for 12th-graders in 1997.

Early sexual activity is associated with emotional²⁹ and physical health risks. Youth who engage in sexual activity are at risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and becoming pregnant. In 2007, 48 percent of high school students reported ever having had sexual intercourse. In the same year, among those reporting having had sexual intercourse during the past 3 months, 16 percent reported the use of birth control pills to prevent pregnancy before the last sexual intercourse and 62 percent reported use of a condom during the last sexual intercourse.

One measure of youth violence in society is the rate of serious crimes committed by youth perpetrators. In 2008, the serious violent crime offending rate was 14 crimes per 1,000 juveniles ages 12–17, totaling 343,000 such crimes involving juveniles (Figure 11). The percentage of all serious violent crimes which involved youth offenders has ranged from 16 percent in 2002 to 26 percent in 1993, the peak year for youth violence. In 2008, 22 percent of all such victimizations reportedly involved a juvenile offender.

Figure 11: Rate of serious violent crimes by youth perpetrators ages 12–17, 1980–2005 and 2007–2008