Substance use rates higher than average in Trumansburg school district

School-aged Trumansburg youth lead Tompkins County and countrywide averages in underage substance consumption, new data from Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga BOCES (TST BOCES) shows.

Among other factors, Brandi Remington, youth development coordinator at TST BOCES says substance use and mental health issues are linked. This was the subject of an Oct. 9 presentation in front of the Trumansburg Central School District (TCSD) Board of Education by Remington, the youth development coordinator at TST BOCES. 

The presentation can be seen in full here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIBRHObvzKc&t=647s.

The data was collected as part of TST BOCES’ Community-Level Youth Development Evaluation (CLYDE) survey. The survey asks students about themselves, their family, their school and their community. It also collects self-reported data on youth substance use and risky behaviors and was distributed among every district in Tompkins County.

Students from grades seven through 12 responded to the survey, with 375 responses coming from Trumansburg.

“We have data going back 20 years and it is all computerized, so we are able to get some good longitudinal data for Trumansburg and the other districts,” Remington said. “It is an anonymous survey; it gives students an opportunity to talk to us in a different way. They share information about their private lives in ways that they may not be willing to do at the family dinner table, in a car ride between soccer practice and home or even in a classroom setting focus group or peer group.”

TCSD students were polled on the four most popular substances used: alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana and vaping products. 

• Over a 30-day period, 16.7% of respondents said they had drunk alcohol, a number higher than the 16% at the county level, and the 15.6% figure at the national level. 
• Similarly, 6.3% of respondents said they had smoked cigarettes, compared to 4.5% at the county level, and 2.1% nationally. 
• Marijuana use was also higher at Trumansburg, with 15% of respondents noting that they had smoked marijuana in the last month. That is higher than the 11.6% at the county level, and 12.3% nationally. 
• About 11.7% of respondents in Trumansburg said they had vaped nicotine products, higher than the 8.7% at the county level, and 7.7% nationally. 

TST BOCES, Remington said, works with students who have recently been caught using substances to determine root causes of substance use. Seventy-four respondents from Trumansburg from 2020-2023 listed around 455 reasons, which were categorized into four groups:

• To feel good (around 57, or 12.5% of the 455 reasons, fell into this category)
• To feel better (around 327, or 72% of total responses, fell into this category)
• To do better (around 35, or 7.7% of total responses, fell into this category)
• Curiosity and social pressure (around 36, or 7.9% of total responses, fell into the category)

Regarding the “to feel better” category, Remington said students often expressed that they felt frustrated, were anxious or depressed or wanted to escape.

“They used terms like ‘self-medicating’ or ‘coping,’” she said. “Students talking about the ‘to feel good’ category talked about liking nicotine vapes or the euphoria of smoking marijuana. The ‘curiosity and social pressure category’ is a lot smaller than what adults think.”

Remington said that the responses from the survey show a strong link to mental health issues. Some of the statements the survey asked students as prompts, she added, show that students are articulating complicated emotional and mental health problems much more frequently than they were 10 years ago.

“Students are telling us they are dealing with strong emotions and hard moments,” Remington said.

The survey also asked students to respond to the following prompts:

• “Sometimes I think life is not worth it,” which saw 28.6% of responses in agreement in 2014, compared to 30.5% in 2023.
• “At times I think I am no good at all,” which saw 36.8% of responses in agreement in 2014, compared to 41.3% in 2023.
• “All in all, I am inclined to think I am a failure,” which saw 22.3% of responses in agreement in 2014, compared to 22.4% in 2023. 
• “In the past year, have you felt depressed or sad most days, even if you feel okay sometimes?” which saw 33.6% of responses in agreement in 2014, compared to 32.1% in 2023. This is the only statement that saw a decrease in responses over the last decade.

“Those numbers, percentages are higher than anyone on this call would want to see,” Remington said. “As a caring adult, those numbers make my heart hurt. There is still work to be done.” 

Following the presentation, Board of Education member Jim Mielty asked why the numbers concerning mental health struggles had grown in the past year.

Remington said the answer was likely a combination of factors, one of them being that students feel more comfortable articulating their problems.

“The vocabulary is more accessible to them,” she said. “They have terms to describe how they are feeling. It is more acceptable to claim, ‘This is something that is going on with me.’”

Ulysses Connection appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com. Contact Eddie Velazquez at edvel37@gmail.com or on X (formerly Twitter): @ezvelazquez.

In brief:
The Ithaca College Graphic Novel Advisory Board is hosting a day to celebrate all things wCalvin and Hobbes on Nov. 16 from noon to 2 p.m. at the Ulysses Philomathic Library. Attendees are encouraged to bring their favorite stuffed animals. 

“Activities include Spiff’s Spectacular Space Adventure, Mad Libs, Calvin Ball, arts and crafts, and more!,” reads a post on the library’s website. This program, the post states, is best for school-aged children who are drawing and writing.