Bullying, Marijuana Major Concerns in Schools

More students are smoking marijuana and nearly half of middle school kids say they have been bullied, a survey found.

Hopkinton presented on Wednesday night results of the survey, which focused on marijuana and bullying.

“Six percent more Hopkinton High School students are using marijuana now than in 2008,” Vazza said.

Reasons for the increase from 20 percent to 26 percent include “decriminalization along with the faulty thinking that marijuana is not addictive and is not a gateway drug,” Vazza said.

Hopkinton High School Principal Alyson Geary explained how the school is dealing with the problem.

“As far as the school is concerned, the rules haven’t changed,” Geary said. “Having any drugs at the school is punishable by suspension or more. The decriminalization hasn’t affected our rules.”

Geary also said the school started doing searches in May with police K-9 units. Geary said no drugs were found in the first search, but the school and the are planning different ways to search that may be more productive.

The second portion of the night was focused on the physical, sexual and mental health of the students. Wellness Coordinator Danielle Petrucci presented data that showed a high level of physical activity in Hopkinton compared to the MetroWest region as well a higher level of condom usage among sexually active high school students.

Petrucci and the audience spent more time discussing the negative aspects of the survey; 47 percent of students reported they have been bullied in the past year.

Petrucci said bullying isn’t always in the form of pushing and shoving. Cyber-bullying is growing immensely, she said.

“Cyber bullying can be harder to control because you don’t always see it,” Petrucci said. “It can happen on Facebook or even when kids are playing online games."

The full presentation is on the Hopkinton Public Schools' website.