We think of school as a safe place to send kids, but bullying changes that dynamic for one out of every five kids in the U.S. UAA’s Gabriel Garcia, assistant professor of public health, partnered with Anchorage United for Youth to explore the link between substance use and bullying here in Anchorage. The statistics are sobering. On par with U.S. national statistics, about one in five ASD kids said they were victims of bullying at school. Youths who are bullied are 60 percent more likely to drink alcohol, 90 percent more likely to binge drink and 35 percent more likely to use marijuana, cocaine or prescription drugs. Professor Garcia’s findings are helping youth service providers ramp up outreach and prevention efforts in Anchorage.
