The 2014 Washington Healthy Youth Survey found Renton students using drugs, alcohol and tobacco at a lower percentage than their peers across the state, with the exception of a handful of behaviors for 10th-grade students.

The report is a statewide survey of some 223,000 students from grades 6, 8, 10 and 12 that was conducted by the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) last year. More than 3,200 students in the Renton School District volunteered to participate in the survey.

For the most part, Renton teens are smoking, using e-cigarettes and vaping, using prescription drugs and alcohol at a lower percentage than the state reports. Marijuana use and bullying were also lower in the district, except for reports by sophomores.

More than 800 of the district’s 10th-graders were surveyed and of those 19 percent used marijuana in the 30 days prior to the survey, compared to 18 percent of 10th graders surveyed statewide.

Also, on bullying, 24 percent of Renton 10th-graders reported to have been bullied in the 30 days prior to the survey, compared to 23 percent of their peers statewide.

“The results of this survey fluctuate as the percentage of students in each grade level who choose to take it differs each time,” wrote Randy Matheson, district spokesperson in an email. “This is a voluntary, self-reporting survey; so, some students take it serious while others do not. Because of the erratic data, the best method that health professionals and other school staff can use when addressing youth health issues is creating relationships and working directly with all students.”

Statewide DSHS reports improvement, particularly at the 10th-grade level, with prevention education. With an increase of 46 percent since 2010, 56 percent of 10th-graders reported that they received information about alcohol and other drugs at least once from their schools.

The survey also found that the percentage of 10th-grade students who said their parents talked with them more than once in the past year about not using alcohol increased to 38 percent from 35 percent in 2012.

“There are still too many students using alcohol (one-in-five 10th-graders) and marijuana (nearly one-in-five 10th-graders), risking their health, safety and futures,” wrote Deb Schnellman in an email.

Schnellman is the communications and health promotions manager for the state DSHS.

“Only a third of 10th-graders think regular marijuana use is risky, a drop from 46 percent in 2012 to 36 percent,” she said. “When perception of risk goes down, use normally goes up.”

An alarming number of students reported riding with drivers who use marijuana and drive after using marijuana, she said.

One-in-five 10th-graders and one-in-four 12th-graders reported riding in a car with a driver who had used marijuana. One-in-10 10th-graders, and one-in-six 12th-graders reported driving a car within three hours of using marijuana.

The survey also found that students in grades 8 and 10 use electronic cigarettes at more than twice the rate that they smoke tobacco.

The Healthy Youth Survey data has historically been used by state and local agencies to inform policy makers and local communities on how to effectively target resources and address these issues, Schnellman said.

Currently, a Prevention Policy Consortium is working on implementing the five-year Washington State Prevention Strategic Plan. This consortium is working to strengthen and support an integrated statewide system of community-driven substance abuse prevention, mental health promotion and related issues.

In Renton, school staff review the survey results to better connect their own work and observations with those that are reported by survey participants, Matheson said.

These are just some of the reports from the 2014 Healthy Youth Survey. To see all of the state results, visit www.askhys.net/.