Great young people from Hafnarfjörður

At a meeting of the Education Committee yesterday, Geir Bjarnason, Sports and Leisure Officer, presented a report from Rannsóknir og greining, commissioned by the Ministry of Education, on substance use among pupils in the upper years of Hafnarfjörður's primary schools.

Since 2003, the City of Hafnarfjörður has received a customised analysis of this survey, with the data broken down for each school. This has made it possible to respond in a targeted way and to work on preventative projects.

No one in Year 10 smokes

Around 84% of students took part in the survey, and there are just over 1100 students in the secondary schools of Hafnarfjörður. The main findings are that in Year 10 no students smoked, 4% of students had tried snus in the 30 days before the survey, 4% of 10th-grade students had drunk alcohol in the 30 days before the survey, and about 51% of 10th-grade students said they had tried marijuana at some point in their lives.

These figures have decreased significantly in recent years, except for marijuana consumption.

The Education Council welcomed the results of the analysis and the fact that since measurements began in 2001, consumption of alcohol and tobacco among young people in Hafnarfjörður has never been lower.

The survey can be accessed in the minutes of the Education Committee.