Pubdate: Mon, 19 Dec 2005
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Copyright: 2005 Journal Sentinel Inc.
Contact: http://www.jsonline.com/news/editorials/submit.asp
Website: http://www.jsonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/265
Author: Katharine Goodloe
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

TEENS WISE UP BUT STILL TAKE RISKS

Survey Finds Less Smoking, Better Use of Seat Belts

Wisconsin's high school students are smoking less than  they did eight
years ago. They're wearing car seat  belts and bike helmets more. And
of those who have sex,  almost eight in 10 use birth control.

That's according to the Wisconsin Youth Risk Behavior  Survey, a
biennial report whose 2005 results were  released last week by the
state's Department of Public  Instruction.

Experts say the findings show teens have absorbed basic  lessons from
health class and public service  announcements - wear seat belts,
don't smoke - but they  also point to underlying data showing students
still  experiment, often dangerously.

Fewer students reported smoking marijuana in the past  30 days, but
overall use of the drug remained steady  the past eight years. Fewer
students are smoking  cigarettes, but alcohol use and binge drinking
rates  are nearly unchanged.

And while nearly three-quarters of students surveyed  use a seat belt,
up from just more than half of  students in 1997, almost a third
reported recently  riding in a car with a driver who'd been drinking.

"The information is out there, and it's being heard and  being used on
issues like smoking and condom use," said  Jeanne Erickson, a
childhood brain development  specialist at the Wisconsin Council on
Children and  Families. "But we have to get more information out  there."

Still, not all students think the lessons are getting  through. Rita
Kreuser, a senior at Bradford High School  in Kenosha, said she's seen
a spike in drug and alcohol  use, including cigarettes, among many
teens.

"I'm really against pot and the harder drugs," she  said. "But
drinking is big here."

That's particularly troubling to some experts.

The survey found that 60% of high school seniors think  everyone their
age considers it OK to have five drinks  in a row, which it defines as
binge drinking. But only  4% of those students thought such behavior
wouldn't  harm them.

"Adolescents really think they're invincible," Erickson  said. "They
have a different understanding of how  things might affect them, and
that could be part of  what those percentages are showing."

She said many "classic" teen behaviors, including  risk-taking and
impulsivity, are rooted in science.  Teen brains still are developing
in their prefrontal  cortex, the area that regulates such behavior.
That can  lead to a predisposition toward risky decisions, she  said.

Others point to parents and role models as partial  culprits for teen
drinking. The University of  Wisconsin-Madison's reputation as a
"party school" and  high-profile parties where parents supplied
alcohol for  teens, can encourage such behavior, said Shea Halula,
executive director of the Ozaukee Council, an anti-drug  program for
teens.

"A lot of times, kids learn from their parents," Halula
said.

Drug use - particularly the type of drugs used - also  varied by
grade. Freshman were almost twice as likely  as seniors to use
inhalants. But seniors were far more  likely to have tried club drugs,
including Ecstasy, as  well as cocaine and marijuana.

Kreuser said she sees younger teens experiment with a  variety of
drugs but believes seniors often tire of  experimentation and simply
favor alcohol. It's usually  cheaper, easier to get, and can be
combined with foods  such as Jell-O that make it "more fun," she said.

Though she's had friends injured in drunken-driving  accidents,
Kreuser said she doesn't think most teens  have a personal connection
to the results of their  actions.

"They need to realize what the consequences are of what  they do," she
said. "It takes a lot of maturity to  stand up and say 'I don't want
to do this.' " 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake