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Various studies consistently show that Dutch adolescents are healthy and happy: just last year, Dutch youngsters were called the happiest children in Europe. At the same time, these kinds of studies leave researchers with questions. For instance, why do pupils in preparatory secondary vocational education (VMBO) smoke more and drink more alcohol than pupils in senior general secondary education (HAVO) and pre-university education (VWO)? Margot Peeters, youth researcher at Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ, studied the smoking and drinking behaviour of young people. Peeters concludes that the social context of the classroom plays an important role here. ‘Do the popular children smoke or drink? If so, the other pupils in the class are more likely to smoke or drink too.’

For her research, Peeters used data from the SNARE project, in which she and her Groningen colleagues René Veenstra and Lydia Laninga-Wijnen analysed data from more than 1800 13-year-olds, spread across 81 different classes. Peeters: ‘Schoolchildren were asked three times in one year about things such as their alcohol consumption and whether and how much they smoked. We also wanted to know who was popular in the class and examine whether there was a connection between popularity and the use of alcohol or tobacco.’ The researchers' findings appeared in the .

If the popular children in the class smoke and drink, we see an increase in smoking and drinking among the other pupils in the class.

The class is important

Peeters' research confirms that pupils smoke more and drink more alcohol at VMBO level than HAVO and VWO level. To explain this f act, previous studies have often looked at family background or the behaviour of the pupil's parents. Peeters: ‘The context of the classroom was wrongly overlooked in the process.’

Resisting urges

The Utrecht youth researcher concludes that the extent to which alcohol and smoking are popular in a classroom plays an important role in the actual alcohol consumption and smoking behaviour of the pupils. ‘An increased reputation for alcohol and smoking in the classroom may create an environment in which it is more difficult for adolescents to resist the urge to smoke or drink alcohol. In other words: if the popular children in the class smoke and drink, we see an increase in smoking and drinking among the other pupils in the class. These effects are much more pronounced for pupils in preparatory secondary vocational education (VMBO) than for other levels of education.’

Processes in the classroom

By means of her research, Peeters wishes to emphasise that knowledge of the processes in the classroom is important for better explaining the risk behaviour of adolescents. ‘If we want to reduce risk behaviour, we must take a closer look at the function of certain behaviours in the classroom. If young people can acquire social status through smoking and drinking, as they do in VMBO classes, it will be very difficult to reduce this behaviour with a broad-based preventive approach. It would be better to use a selective approach aimed at changing norms in the classroom around smoking and drinking.’