COMMUNITY

We are all influenced by the community within which we live and the ease with which we are able to make healthy decisions within our community and environment. Hudson Youth Substance Abuse Prevention (YSAP) is working to prevent youth substance abuse through an ecological model that includes community engagement and environmental changes.

These efforts will require us to create alliances that include traditional as well as non-traditional partners such as youth, families, local and regional government, schools, youth-serving organizations, the business community, and others. Through these efforts, we hope to create a community that supports healthy decision-making and prevents youth substance use.

Visit our activities and events pages to find out more about the current and past Hudson YSAP efforts.

Youth Substance Use Data

While some youth risk behaviors begin in middle school, youth substance use increases dramatically during the high school years. Of greatest concern in Hudson are the high rates of alcohol use, binge drinking, and marijuana use.

According to the 2014 MetroWest Adolescent Health Survey, 1 in 3 high school students (grades 9-12) in the MetroWest region reported drinking alcohol in the past 30 days. High school students in Hudson reported similar rates of current alcohol use (37%). High school students in Hudson reported higher rates of binge drinking  (i.e., consuming 5 or more drinks in a row) than their MetroWest peers (25% vs. 18%, respectively). Among these Hudson youth the majority got the alcohol at a party (75%), from a friend not at a party (48%), from someone they know 21+ who purchased it for them (44%), or from home without parent/guardian knowledge (32%). To learn more about the dangers of adolescent alcohol use please visit Get the Facts – Alcohol. For more information on Hudson High School policies and Massachusetts laws on underage drinking please visit Know the Rules/Know the Laws.

Community Health Data Center
The MetroWest Health Foundation’s Community Health Data Center provides information and analysis of key health indicators for 25 MetroWest communities. Data is collected from state and federal resources and is searchable by category. The center also includes other Community Health Links on topics such as health care quality, health care reform, health news, and health data.

Adolescent Health Survey
Every other year, students at the Hudson High School and JFK Middle School completed the MetroWest Adolescent Health Survey. The purpose of the survey is to learn about adolescents’ attitudes and behaviors with regard to a variety of health issues in order to help school districts provide the best possible health education and related services to students.  The survey results are available through the Hudson Public Schools.

Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior
Every odd-numbered year, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE) and the Department of Public Health (DPH) collaborate to conduct two youth surveys in Massachusetts. The ESE’s Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) measures high school risk behaviors over time while the DPH’s Youth Health Survey provides a snapshot of middle school student risk behaviors and health status indicators for high school students. For more information, visit the YRBS website and the Youth Health Survey websites.

National Youth Risk Behavior Survey
The national YRBS monitors health-risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of death, disability, and social problems among youth and adults in the United States. This school-based survey is conducted every two years during the spring semester and provides data representative of 9th through 12th grade students in public and private schools throughout the United States. For more information, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention YRBS website.