Pubdate: Tue, 23 Nov 2004 Source: Mobile Register (AL) Copyright: 2004 Mobile Register Contact: http://www.al.com/mobileregister/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/269 Author: Rena Havner Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States) QUARTER OF MOBILE COUNTY'S STUDENTS DID DRUGS LAST YEAR Twenty-six percent of Mobile County's middle and high school students have tried marijuana or cocaine in the past year, a statewide survey suggests. Also, 51 percent of the students said they had consumed alcohol while 29 percent reported smoking tobacco, according to the PRIDE Survey, which sampled Alabama students anonymously last spring. The survey was administered in about half of the states. Earlier this month, Baldwin County schools reported that 27 percent of Baldwin students said in the PRIDE Survey that they had used drugs. Both Baldwin and Mobile counties had higher numbers for drug use than PRIDE's state and national averages. "This means they have tried it. It doesn't mean they're doing it every day," said Mobile County schools Assistant Superintendent Rhonda Waltman. "But the fact that our children experiment gives parents the greatest opportunity to talk to their children about why," Waltman said. "They should ask, 'Why are you experimenting? Is it the influence of your friends? What is it?'" In Mobile County, 15,495 students in sixth through 12th grades participated in the survey, which included more than 200 questions about alcohol, drug and tobacco use as well as school violence. This survey results have come to public attention as law enforcement officials take a stronger stance against drugs and alcohol. Last week, three students were arrested at Satsuma High on allegations of bringing drugs to school. PRIDE Surveys were given throughout Alabama and the other states as part of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The survey's margin of error was unavailable. Among the key Mobile County findings: Thirty-five percent of high school seniors said they had tried marijuana over the last year and 13 percent cocaine. The marijuana use exceeded the state average of 30 percent, but fell below the national average of 36 percent. Cocaine use here, though, was higher than the state and national averages of 9 percent. Twenty-one percent of seniors at Theodore High School reported using cocaine -- the highest in the county -- followed by 19 percent of seniors at Citronelle High and 18 percent of seniors at Mary G. Montgomery High in Semmes. Fifty-two percent of seniors at Shaw High in northwest Mobile reported that they had used marijuana, as did 43 percent of the seniors at Satsuma High and 41 percent of the 10th-graders at Mary G. Montgomery. Some officials said the fact that the survey was given anonymously to teenagers meant that it might not be accurate. PRIDE officials said the surveys included specific questions to signal whether a respondent was providing inconsistent answers. George Romano, principal at Mary G. Montgomery, said he thinks the survey numbers are higher than actual drug use. Still, he said, if even one student uses drugs, that's too many. "I'm always afraid that if they get started with the mild stuff, they'll move to the next step, so we try to do anything to reach just one of them," Romano said. Recently, Montgomery and other schools countywide participated in national Red Ribbon Week, where students wore ribbons proclaiming that they were drug-free. Schools sponsored activities and speakers to teach students about the consequences of drug use. "They will experiment. It's easy when parents are not keeping up with them," Romano said. "In certain groups, that's the thing to do. In other groups, that's not the thing to do. ... It's peer pressure." Cynthia Weaver, director of the Mobile Children's Policy Council, is working with the school system to examine the PRIDE numbers. The council includes about 100 community and church leaders, law enforcement officials and social agency representatives. By February, the group hopes to have in place an anti-drug plan that would provide specific services to the students who need them, Weaver said. "Data's important, but data's only one piece of the puzzle," Weaver said. One program that Weaver cites is Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson's "Make the Right Choices." Since 1998, Tyson and representatives of his office have used school attendance and discipline records to identify and help thousands of at-risk youth early on. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin