National trends don't count

Read with a big grain of salt the Washington Post reprint on today's Seattle Times front page: Girlhood Gone Wild: Drinking and Drug Use Grow.  It's riddled with errors and anecdotally-driven speculation, too many for me to refute right now.  (e.g. the quote "a growing number of reports show that..." -- what does that even mean?)

But my biggest criticism is the underlying assumption that a national story is relevant to you.  It's too hard to keep track of what may or may not be happening at a national (or international) level, when what really matters --and where you have direct control -- is your own family and school.

And what about my school?  In fact, on Mercer Island we have the exact opposite problem. According to a study by Columbia University psychologist Suniya Luthar, half of all Mercer Island boys have tried marijuana by graduation time, but only 30% of girls have.  And more significantly, it's the boys [who this article implies we can ignore] who appear to be driving the problems.

I have no idea what's happening in Bethesda, Md (the source of quotes in the article).  People in Bethesda should figure that out.