Student Alcohol, Drug Use Brought To Light

WAITSBURG - Mor e Waitsburg High School students are using tobacco and drinking alcohol than the state average of their peers, Dr. Carol Clarke said Monday night in a drug and alcohol town hall meeting.

Clarke and members from other health organizations in the community listened to data from a Healthy Youth Survey and began the discussion of what now - what can we as a community do to change our teens' perceptions that drugs and alcohol are easy to obtain and OK in our society?

"It's not just the responsibility of law enforcement," said Peggy Guiterrez, a prevention specialist with Blue Mountain Counseling. "It is a community problem and families need the support."

About 40 community members turned out Monday night to listen to the presentation at Waitsburg Elementary School.

Waitsburg senior Zach Bartlow was the emcee for the evening and Clarke went through the data the state collected in the fall of 2010 through an anonymous survey. The 2010 survey was the twelfth time it was taken by students statewide, she said. The students take the survey in sixth, eighth, tenth and twelfth grades. The questions ask about drug and alcohol use, as well as exercise and depression.

The sample of the Waitsburg school students was smaller than many other schools, with 28 sixth graders, 21 eighth graders, 29 sophomores and 26 seniors.

In many areas of the survey, more Waitsburg High School students reported using drugs and alcohol that the state average .

The middle school students reported much more positive statistics.

For example, 21 percent of Waitsburg sophomores had smoked cigarettes in the past 30 days, which was higher than the state average of 13 percent. Chewing tobacco was also a more common practice by Waitsburg High School students than others across the state.

The survey asked students about community norms and whether they think community members are OK with them smoking. Just 27 percent of sophomores and 25 percent of seniors believe the community does not support smoking.

"A larger number is saying they don't think the community cares," Clarke said.

What was also surprising to Clarke was the small percentage of students who don't think tobacco use by students is enforced. Just about one quarter of sophomores and seniors believe it's enforced.

"We call law enforcement and we call the parent (if they're caught smoking)," she said. "This is an interesting response to us."

The use of alcohol in the last 30 days by Waitsburg High School students was also higher than the state average - 45 percent of sophomores and 54 percent of seniors at Waitsburg reported drinking in the last 30 days. The average for the state was 28 percent for sophomores and 40 percent for seniors. Also, more Waitsburg students reported binge drinking, have five or more drinks in a row, and reported more problem and heavy drinking.

"This is a very, very serious health and community issue," Clarke said.

In the survey, 52 percent of Waitsburg sophomores reported not drinking in the last 30 days. That number is much lower than the state average of 71 percent who said they hadn't consumed alcohol.

The survey also showed Waitsburg students don't think drinking is harmful to their health and about 20 percent of Waitsburg sophomores and seniors reported having ridden in the car of a drunk driver.

Not only do some students not see drinking as harmful, they also see alcohol as easy to obtain, Clarke said.

The marijuana statistics were also higher than expected, with 50 percent of Waitsburg seniors reporting they had smoked marijuana and they also didn't see that as harmful to their health. The middle school students reported drug use and alcohol use in much lower numbers and then something happens in high school and the numbers increase quickly, Clarke said.

She said because our kids already believe alcohol is easy to obtain, Clarke worries the new law that allows grocery stores to sell alcohol will make it even easier.

"That scares me," Clarke said. "(Improving the situation) starts at home."

Gutierrez talked about what parents can do to help change the perception that "everybody is doing it" when it comes to drugs and alcohol.

"Teens have a misconception of how many other kids drink," Gutierrez said. "Their perception is their reality."

She added that parents can enforce the truth about drinking and drugs and they have much more power than they believe when it comes to their kids' choices.

Jeff Bartlow, a physical education and health teacher for the school district, said the seventh and eighth graders are now learning about the effects of drugs and alcohol in health class. They even brought in a speaker this year who survived addiction to talk with the students. But, he admitted he was still surprised by the survey results.

"Looking at this is still a scary thing," he said.

Sheriff John Turner also attended the presentation and said the problem with our kids drinking and using drugs isn't about education, but community norms. He said he was surprised to see how many students in Waitsburg believe adults think it's OK for them to use alcohol and marijuana.

"Make sure the message gets out that it's not OK," Turner said.

Turner and the sheriff's offi ce have a DUI taskforce and undercover operations to help end the problem. They also help orchestrate a program called Every 15 Minutes at the high school that helps the students understand what it's like to lose a classmate to alcohol abuse.

"The potential for saving lives is very significant," Turner said .

Gutierrez encouraged parents to take a stronger stance with their kids against drugs and alcohol with consequences and boundaries.

Clarke said if the community would like to have more meetings like this or if anyone has any other ideas on how to tackle these problems, to contact her at the school district.