Community Information
Thank you for your interest in the health and wellbeing of Alton youth! Below is the list of questions asked and selected responses.
Information About Our Youth
Community Responses
40% of youth responded that there is not a safe place to play in their neighborhood.
1 in 4 youth have seen someone get physically attacked, beaten, stabbed or shot in their neighborhood. White youth report lower exposure than other races.
64% of youth do not know about programs for kids their age in their community.
3/4 of youth feel at least somewhat safe being alone outside at night. Mixed race youth felt slightly more unsafe being alone outside compared to other races.
Youth trust their doctors (66%) and hospitals (62%) the most in the community. About half of youth trust the local public health department (52%) and community health center (51%).
About 43% of youth trust the police, with black students trusting the police less than white students. Government (22%) and media (18%) had the least trust from Alton youth.
About 8% of Alton youth are often worried that food will run out before their family had money to buy more food. 15% of Alton youth had experienced food running out in the home and not having any more food at least once.
Youth Behavior
5% of Alton youth reported having carried a weapon onto school property. 4.6% of youth carried a gun in the past year.
89% of students had never smoked (compared to 82% nationally).
80% had never drank alcohol (compared to 77% nationally).
85% of youth had never tried marijuana (compared to 72% nationally)
83.0% of students had never used an electronic vapor product and 8.6% had not used one in the past 30 days.
Over their lifetimes, 88% of students reported that they had never taken prescription medication without a prescription (compared to 88% nationally)
97% said they had never used cocaine (compared to 97.5% nationally)
96% said they had never sniffed glue or aerosol sprays to get high (compared to 92% nationally)
96% had never used methamphetamines (compared to 98.2% nationally)
96% had never used ecstasy (compared to 97% nationally)
96% had never used a needle to inject drugs into their body (compared to 99% nationally)
72% of youth reported never having sexual intercourse. Of those who did, 55% report using a condom at their last sexual encounter.
62% of youth plan to go to college after graduation.
63% of students report never skipping school. 30% report sometimes skipping school. 6% report often skipping school.
National data attained from CDC Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System
Adverse Childhood Experiences
From CDC: Adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood (0-17 years).
Examples include:
- Experiencing violence, abuse, or neglect.
- Witnessing violence in the home or community.
- Having a family member attempt or die by suicide.
In Alton:
- Nearly half (47%) of students have experienced 2 or more ACEs.
- 1 in 3 (31%) of students have experienced 4 or more ACEs.
- 15% of students have experienced 8 or more ACEs.
Why does this matter?
- If left untreated, children with a high ACE score face a 20 year decrease in life expectancy.
- Children who experience 4 or more ACES are 7 times more likely to suffer from alcoholism and 12 times more likely to attempt suicide.
- Children who experience two or more ACES are nearly 3 times more likely to repeat a grade.
- Youth in juvenile prisons are 4x more likely to have experienced 4 or more ACEs than the general population.
Police Interaction Responses
Over half of students have never interacted with the police. A total of 12% of the youth taking the survey answered questions about their interactions with the police and had contact with the police in the past year.
Most students had interacted with the police at their home (25.3%) or in their neighborhood (24.4%). Most students interacted with a White officer (74.4%) and most officers were male (80.4%) and thirty to forty years old (58.1%).
The most common reason for involvement was that students were
involved in fights (7.4%) with strangers (55.6%) and as a result of the interaction, most students did not have anything happen (46.9%).
Most students did not feel that the outcome they received was fair (68.4) and 43.1% of students were dissatisfied with the way they were treated.
79% of youth felt the police did a good job or very good job at fighting crime.
77% of youth felt the police did a good job dealing with problems that concern their neighborhood.
75% of youth trust the police department to make decisions that are good for everyone in my city.
76% of youth have confidence that the Alton police department can do its job well.