Middle School Students’ Understanding of Peer Alcohol Use and Implications for Secondary School Leaders

Abstract

Alcohol use by middle school students is a significant national problem with serious consequences. In response to district-wide survey data identifying high rates of drinking at the middle school level, this case study gathered information from students in the suburban district's two middle schools about the use of alcohol among their peers and their understanding of factors contributing to drinking. While the study establishes the complexity of the problem with roots in family, school, and society, consistent with other research, it emphasizes the importance of the school context and suggests proactive and protective leadership strategies that would meet students' socio-emotional needs, support student engagement, and reduce alcohol use.

School Transitions, Peer Processes, and Delinquency: A Social Network Approach to Turning Points in Adolescence

“…We suspect that this reduction in delinquent sociability is due to growing divides in school engagement between anti- and prosocial youth. 9 With higher levels of school involvement and lower rates of truancy (Osterman et al, 2016), nondelinquent youth can use the various foci of interaction that define higher-level schools as opportunities to forge new friendships. Delinquent adolescents are less likely to partake in new extracurriculars and after-school activities, and instead appear to focus on maintaining small groups of trusted, within-school friends (Schaefer et al, 2014).…”

“…Compared to elementary schools, middle and high schools tend to offer a greater diversity of extracurricular activities, which represent key foci for adolescent friendship formation (Schaefer et al, 2011), particularly among same-school peers. Delinquent youth, however, participate in clubs, sports, and other after-school activities less frequently than their nondelinquent classmates (Osterman et al, 2016), which will limit their opportunities to form new same-age, within-school friendships in these contexts.…”