The percentage of students who report having consumed alcohol on campus has decreased, the number of self-identified hard drug users has dropped slightly and the number of students who believe the Disciplinary Committee system is fair has risen according to the 2010 State of the Academy Survey. 556 Andover students participated in the survey, 55 percent of which were female and 45 percent being male. Boarders provided 71 percent of answers for the survey while day students provided 29 percent of responses. According to the survey, 28.7 percent of students have used marijuana. Of students who reported using marijuana within one week of taking the survey, more than a third reported being ‘sometimes’ or ‘rarely’ happy. 4.5 percent of students reported using hard drugs or narcotics, including cocaine or heroin. 9.3 percent of students have used hallucinogens including LSD, psycoblin, also known as ‘shrooms’, or salvia. 7.4 percent of students have used study drugs such as Ritalin or Adderall. Of students who received honors grades in the Winter term, about 94 percent did so without the use of study drugs. A majority of students who admitted to having used study drugs before did not make the honor roll. 14.9 percent of respondents report having consumed alcohol while on the Phillips Academy campus and an additional 43.1 percent reported consuming alcohol off campus. About 3.1 percent of participants in the survey admitted to attending campus events ‘frequently’ under the influence of illegal substances. Students who have only attended campus events ‘once or twice’ under the influence of illegal substances amounted to 13.1 percent. About one third of the school indicated that they believe Andover has a significant drug culture on campus. A majority of students believe that 25-50 percent of students are consuming drugs and alcohol on campus. Faiyad Ahmad ’10, Student Council President, said, “Drug and substance abuse is a growing epidemic in high schools world-wide. It is a problem now, it always has been and it always will be.” “In order to have success on this issue, it is important to look through this problem in a bigger lens then than the Andover lens. We need to start a conversation now,” said Ahmad. The survey indicated that 8.9 percent of students have sat before a disciplinary committee before. 60.3 percent of students believe that the Disciplinary Committee system is fair, a 5.7 percent increase from last year’s survey. About half of the respondents know someone who has lied when caught breaking a major rule. Ahmad said, “The student council, the deans, and the cluster presidents, have all tirelessly debated this issue in effort to solve the issue. When kids are scared, their first impulse if often to lie because they are afraid that they won’t get into college, get good recommendations, or they’ll be looked at differently.” “In general, lying and cheating has become part of the presser-cooker atmosphere at Andover but pressure also comes from the students’ families. We need to be frank and look at the roots of the problem in order to solve it,” Ahmad continued. More than three fourths of students believe that there is a rift between the student body and the administration. Ahmad said, “It is hard for adults to gauge how to approach students. We need to set up venues for students to make connections with the administration. I do see where the students are coming from but they don’t always go out of their way to look for the effort being made on the administrations part.” “The elected leaders are the only ones who see all the effort put in on behalf of the students by the administration,” Ahmad explained. “Both parties need to make more of an effort.” If students knew that they could get away with lying in a Disciplinary Committee hearing, 47.4 percent said that they would lie. 26.1 percent of boarding students reported having left the dorm after final sign-in. About 53.4 percent of students have ridden in a car without car permission. 15.1 percent of students reported cheating on a test on at least one occasion. Students who have had an illegal parietal make up 38.8 percent of the survey’s participants. This is a slight increase from last year’s survey results. 5.7 percent of students have been on probation during their time at Andover. 50.6 percent of students reported drinking coffee. 30.1 percent of students use energy drinks to stay awake at some point during the year.
