A new study appearing in the Journal of Drug Issues indicates that parents play a larger role in determining whether or not their children use marijuana than the school environment. The study is based on evaluations from more than 10,000 students, teachers, parents and administrators.
The researchers looked at the bonds between parents and children — such as trust, active engagement and open communication — as well as the school’s positive environment for learning — such as teacher morale, teacher’s abilities to address student needs and extracurricular activities. The students with strong bonds with parents were less likely to use marijuana even when their school environment was strongly lacking. The students with strong school environment and low levels of family bonding were more likely to be using.