Pubdate: Tue, 07 Oct 2003 Source: Birmingham News, The (AL) Copyright: 2003 The Birmingham News Contact: http://al.com/birminghamnews/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/45 Author: Gigi Douban Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) SHELBY STUDENT DRUG USE DOWN Middle School Alcohol, Drug Use Up, Survey Says More middle school students in Shelby County used drugs and alcohol in 2002-2003 compared to the previous year, but drug and alcohol use among all students declined, according to a survey released Monday by the Shelby County Board of Education. The results are from the Pride Survey, a national, anonymous survey detailing drug and alcohol use among middle and high school students. In all, 7,229 students in grades 6 through 11 responded. County school officials hailed the results as a sign that drug prevention measures such as random drug testing have proven effective, as countywide overall drug and alcohol use is below the national average. Other areas of the report underscore the need for an intensified focus on early intervention, school officials said. "It's mixed results," said Shelby County school board member Trey Ireland. That overall student drug and alcohol use is below the national average is encouraging, but "it's disheartening that there's still this much drug and alcohol use in the county," Ireland said. Middle school users: Among sixth-, eighth- and ninth-graders, more students reported using illicit drugs monthly. Sixth-, seventh- and ninth-graders reported increased monthly alcohol use, according to the survey. Other grades surveyed showed decreases in alcohol and drug use. In 2002-2003, for example, 3.8 percent of sixth-graders said they used alcohol monthly, compared to 3.4 percent the previous year. In seventh grade, monthly alcohol use rose from 8.6 percent to 8.9 percent. Sixth-grader marijuana use increased from 1.7 percent of students reporting monthly use to 2.1 percent in 2002-2003; eighth-graders also used more marijuana with 7.6 percent of students using compared to 6.4 percent the previous year. More than one in four Shelby County high school students - 27.7 percent - reported drinking alcohol monthly; that figure is down from 37 percent in 2001-2002. Fifteen percent of high school students reported using illicit drugs monthly, down from 22.5 percent in 2001-2002. That figure put high school students' drug use below the national average of 20 percent. Marijuana use among county high school students in 2002-2003 also was below the national average. Early experimentation: One area in which Shelby County students in some grades exceeded national averages included the use of uppers such as speed, and downers such as Valium and sleeping pills, before arriving at school. "The fact that we have a high percent of kids who use them before school is bothersome," Ireland said. "We've spent a lot of time and effort over the last couple of years to bring up parents' awareness level that these things are happening." Shelby County schools will continue to increase efforts to curb drug use, particularly among middle school students, said Cindy Warner, county schools public relations supervisor. "That age group is one particular age group that we're really going to have to hit hard." Survey results show that "kids are starting to experiment with drugs and alcohol at very early ages," Ken Mobley, county schools coordinator of student services, said in a news release. School officials need to intervene at the middle school level, he said. "If we don't reach them there, it is often too late." In 2002, the school system expanded the SWAT program (Student War Against Temptation), a voluntary random drug testing program, to all middle and high schools. It was launched at Oak Mountain High in 2001 after parents and other community members became concerned that the school had earned a reputation for high student drug use. `Heads in the sand': School officials also are placing renewed emphasis on programs such as CAP (Chemical Awareness Program) and bringing in more guest speakers to address drug abuse, Warner said. But some say middle school just isn't early enough. Nationwide, "the average age for drug experimentation is 91/2 years old. That's the fourth grade," said Ed Burns, a Shelby County psychologist who specializes in substance abuse and violence among youth. In Shelby County, students reported first using marijuana and alcohol at age 12-13, while tobacco use began at age 10-11, according to the survey. County students did drugs and consumed alcohol most often at a friend's house, followed by home, the survey said. "Those are issues that parents are going to have to take care of and do a better role of monitoring those situations," Ireland said. Burns said the lack of parental involvement in Shelby County is disappointing. "I've been in this business 43 years and I'm most amazed by the volume of drug use and the lack of parents being concerned about it," he said. "Shelby County really has a problem and Shelby County parents continue to stick their heads in the sand about it." An anti-drug community task force survey released in July found similar results in Hoover schools, where liquor consumption among seventh-graders rose 7.2 percent over the past two years. Nez Calhoun, spokeswoman for Jefferson County Schools, said she is not aware of a drug and alcohol survey conducted by that school system. Officials with Birmingham schools were unavailable Monday to answer questions regarding any survey. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin