FEATURE
Youth Alcohol Use A n Eve r-p rese nt Public Health Challeng e by Anita Miller, Community Prevention Partnership of Berks County
DO YOU KNOW THAT ALCOHOL CONTINUES TO BE THE MOST WIDELY USED SUBSTANCE AMONG YOUTH, ON BOTH A NATIONAL AND LOCAL LEVEL? Statewide, 32.3% of 8th grade students who responded to the 2019 Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS) reported having consumed alcohol. In Berks County, numbers were slightly higher, at 35.1%. For 12th grade PAYS respondents, those figures were nearly doubled, with 63% statewide and 64% for Berks County.
14
THE RESPONSE // WINTER 2021
