By Alesha Capone
TEENAGE rates of drinking, smoking, drug-taking and bullying are higher in Wyndham than the rest of the state, according to a new report.
Data from Victorian Adolescent Health and Wellbeing survey 2010 and government departments, released last week, provided an alarming insight into the lives of youth in the West.
The survey of more than 10,000 students revealed several issues in Wyndham.
Among the area’s 15-17 years olds, nearly 75 per cent have consumed alcohol, as well as more than half of the area’s children aged 12-14.
Disturbingly, the study also found, among Wyndham’s 15-17 year olds that more than a third have smoked cigarettes – double the state average – 18 per cent have tried marijuana, eight per cent have used illegal drugs and six per cent admitted to glue-sniffing or ‘chroming’.
In the 12-14 age group, more than a fifth confessed to smoking, 10 per cent using marijuana and 10 per cent to sniffing glue or having chromed.
The survey also revealed 46.5 per cent of young people in Wyndham were recently bullied, which was lower than Melton’s rate, which topped the state at 54.2 per cent.
In the same timeframe, there were 114 psychiatric hospitalisations of young people in Wyndham, but more than 60 per cent of youngsters in the area said they have experienced “positive psychological development”.
In 2009 – 2010, adolescents also committed 558 alleged crimes in Wyndham.
The majority were crimes against property, while 17 per cent were classified as “crimes against the person”.
Teenage birth rates in Wyndham came in at 12.9 per 1000 women aged 15 to 19 years during 2008, compared to a nine per cent average within the western metropolitan region.
The government data also showed Wyndham’s students in Years 5, 7 and 9 were, as a group, below average compared to the rest of the state in areas of literacy, writing and numeracy.
Last year’s National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests showed Wyndham students were consistently below the national minimum standard (NMS) in most areas.
Wyndham was ranked twelfth-lowest out of 79 municipalities in Victoria for the percentage of Year 7 students at or above the NMS in reading.
Similarly, Wyndham was ranked 61 out of all municipalities for Year 9 students’ reading, 57 for Year 7 numeracy, 51 for Year 7 writing and 50 for Year 5 writing.
A rank of one was assigned to the local government areas with the highest percentage.
