Substance Abuse Survey Results Worry Valley Educators

Source from:  By SETH ROY Advocate Reporter  12/24/2007

Results show percentages of students who used alcohol, tobacco, drugs in past year A recent snapshot of alcohol, tobacco and drug use in school has Licking Valley looking at ways to educate the community about the problems. "I don't have anything to compare it to," Superintendent Dave Hile said. "Obviously, it's disturbing a greater percent of students than half are using alcohol." According to a Nov. 7 anonymous survey given at the high school, 55.4 percent of students have tried alcohol in the past year, including 70 percent of seniors. The survey, part of a project by Students Against Destructive Decisions, also shows one-third of students have used tobacco and 17.6 percent have used marijuana in the past year. But those numbers aren't too out of line with the norm, according to Youth Risk Behavior Survey results from 2005. The survey, from the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, shows a slightly higher percentage of teenagers who have tried one of the three substances in their lifetime. A similar, again anonymous, survey at Newark High School in 2006 showed 62 percent of students tried alcohol at some point in their lives. CAUSE FOR CONCERN Administrators, board members and students said the numbers really aren't that surprising to them, although they are troubling. "This is a societal problem ... that everyone has to be responsible for," Hile said. "We don't shy away from it at all. I don't think we're different." Licking Valley senior Daniella Brown, 18, a member of SADD, said she knows plenty of other students involved with drugs and alcohol, which led her to get involved with the organization in 2006. "I know a lot of my friends do stupid stuff," she said. Still, a couple of results from the survey surprised her. More than 70 percent of seniors at Licking Valley have drunk alcohol in the past year, according to the survey. That number isn't only represented at Licking Valley, Brown said. "I think it's at any high school," she said. Also, the age at which children are experimenting with substances is becoming younger. For Brown's class, the age of first alcohol and marijuana use was 14, and for tobacco use it was 13. For freshmen, the average first age dropped into the 11-year-old range for tobacco and 12 for the other substances. "It was shocking," Brown said. But that's why SADD wanted to do the survey, she said. "We really wanted it to be honest," she said. "(So we) could see what we needed to concentrate on most." While prom season is the busy time for SADD, the information from the survey can help members gear a campaign and education toward what was outlined in the survey. "I think we're going to concentrate more on tobacco and alcohol," Brown said. One thing that has Brown and high school Principal Wes Weaver alarmed is students say they know the substances can be harmful and have been educated about them, but they still use them. "Attitudes and perceptions about alcohol were the most disturbing," Weaver said. Almost 70 percent of students said they thought alcohol was either harmful or very harmful. Another telling statistic is how easy students say it is to obtain alcohol, tobacco or marijuana. Fifty percent of those surveyed at Licking Valley said tobacco was easy to get. That is taking into account, however, seniors who might be 18 already. For alcohol, 55 percent said it was easy to get, and almost 30 percent said marijuana was easy to obtain. "It's not really hard to get anything," Brown said. "A lot of our class and a lot of the younger grades have older siblings that get it for them." TACKLING THE ISSUE Now that Licking Valley is aware of the issues with drugs and alcohol, its administration, board of education and SADD are discussing what to do next. "I want to send the (survey) out to parents so that they know," Brown said. Hile said the district wants to educate and work with the community about alcohol use in the school, as well. "We'll have conversations in public," he said. The survey first was presented during the district's December board meeting, and Hile said coffee chats will take place in the future. Board member Jack Caughenbaugh said he thinks further conversation is necessary. "The survey has to be put out to the public, then get feedback," he said. The board needs to let the schools work with the results to come up with a solution, Caughenbaugh said. "You have to just sit back and let your administrators and staff figure out a way to help students," he said. If the survey had a silver lining, it's that students who were involved heavily in school and community activities and make good grades consume less alcohol, tobacco or marijuana than those who don't. Brown, who used to play softball, said drug testing might be a big reason for that, though another reason explains it, too. "I think they know anything they do reflects on them (and) the school and team," she said. "We're role models for the underclassmen." Enditem