Speaker Series Event – “Breaking Down the Numbers – The 2017 BHS Youth Risk Behavior Survey Explained”

Find out the most recent 2017 data from Bedford High School’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Some 2015 results: 56 students had used heroin. 68 students in Bedford tried pot at age 12 or earlier.

In 2017, what changed? What improved? Is heroin use up or down among Bedford teens? Are more Bedford teens smoking pot?

Back in September of 2016, Bedford Police Chief John Bryfonski, VP of BeBOLD, kicked off BeBOLD’s first Speaker Series event with a presentation entitled “Bursting Bedford’s Bubble – It’s Our Problem Too”, which summarized activity on the substance abuse front at Bedford High School. He shared data from the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), which is conducted every two years, as a jumping off point for his talk.

“Based on the 2015 survey of students at Bedford High School, 56 had indicated they have used heroin. That’s about three full classrooms of students. The number is staggering.” Another surprising statistic that Bryfonski cited is that 5% of Bedford students surveyed have tried marijuana before age 13. “This means that 68 students in Bedford tried pot at age 12 or earlier,” he adds.

Now the most recent 2017 data is in from Bedford High School’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey and Chief Bryfonski as well as Diane Vaccarello, of Bedford Family Therapy and a BeBOLD board member, will break it down for us. What has changed? What has improved? Is heroin use up among Bedford teens? Are more Bedford teens smoking pot? Find out the answers to these questions by attending BeBOLD’s (Bedford – Building Our Lives Drug-free) monthly speaker series event on Monday, January 28th from 7-8pm at the Bedford Public Library in the McAllaster Room.