Pubdate: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 Source: Knoxville News-Sentinel (TN) Copyright: 2001 The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. Contact: http://www.knoxnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/226 Author: J J Stambaugh KNOX TEENS SURVEY HAS GOOD, BAD NEWS SEXUAL ACTIVITY, DRUG AND ALCOHOL USE AMONG TOPICS Nearly one out of three Knox County high school students had consumed at least one alcoholic beverage in the 30 days prior to taking a 2000 survey on at-risk behaviors. According to the results of the Knox Teen Assessment Project released Monday, one out of three 11th-grade boys and one of every four girls who took the survey also reported binge drinking in that same 30-day period. "Binge," or episodic, drinking was defined as consuming five or more drinks in a row, or "within a couple of hours," the report states. While the survey contained both good and bad news, some of the most alarming data concerned the use of inhalants among seventh-graders, Darlene Vickers said Monday. Vickers, who runs the Knoxville Academy of Medicine Alliance Health Discovery's auxiliary program for the county school system, explained the data to a work session of the Knox County school board. According to the data, almost one out of 12 seventh-grade boys and one out of 14 girls had used some sort of inhalants in the period prior to taking the survey, she said. "That sent up a big red flag," Vickers said. The survey was first administered in Knox County in 1998. It is a collaborative effort among the Knox County Health Department, Knox County Schools and the Knox Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Initiative. The survey looked at several health-related topics, including the use of controlled substances like tobacco, alcohol, marijuana and other mind-altering drugs. It also examined sexual activity as well as behavior leading to intentional and unintentional injuries. "We feel we had a pretty good feel about what the community wanted to know about the kids," said Sarah Simpson, the school system's assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. The survey was administered to students in the seventh, ninth and 11th grades in May 2000. All 12 Knox County high schools took part in the survey, as did the system's 13 middle schools. Of the 9,829 students who had the opportunity to take the survey, 8,324 did. Parents were given the option of excusing their teens, the report states, and students who felt uncomfortable with its content were allowed to skip it. According to the report's summary, fewer Knox County students are drinking alcohol, having sex or carrying weapons to school than the national average. On the other hand, they are using tobacco and illegal drugs at a similar rate as their peers in other states. The following statistical information is drawn from the teens' responses: * More than one-fourth of 11th-grade students smoke at least one cigarette per day. Approximately 19.9 percent of male ninth-graders and 20.9 percent of females smoked at least one cigarette each day. * Of the ninth-grade students, 28.9 percent of males and 26.6 percent of females said they smoked their first cigarette before the age of 13. Among 11th-graders, 25.9 percent of males and 20.5 percent of females first smoked at age 12 or younger. * Nearly one in three boys and one in every four girls in the 11th grade had smoked marijuana in the 30 days before the survey. Among ninth-graders, the percentage was 23.1 for boys and 19.1 for girls; for those in seventh grade, the figures were 10.2 percent for boys and 6.9 percent for girls. * Among 11th-graders, 9 percent of boys and 4.8 percent of girls had used either heroin or LSD. * The prevalence of drug use nearly doubles for all drug classes -- tobacco, alcohol and illegal substances -- between middle and high schools. * Among ninth-grade respondents, 12.7 percent of male students and 6.5 percent of female students reported having had sexual intercourse before age 13. Among 11 graders, 8.4 percent of boys and 3.7 percent of girls reported having sex at age 12 or younger. * By the time they reached 11th grade, 43.4 of boys and 45.7 percent of girls had had sexual intercourse. * Nearly one in four students in the ninth and 11th grades who were sexually active drank alcohol before their last sexual encounter. * More than 11 percent of sexually active females in the seventh grade were using birth-control pills to prevent pregnancy; 19.7 percent of 11th-grade females were using birth control pills as a contraceptive. * The percentage of 11th-grade male students who reported that they had gotten at least one female pregnant was 9 percent, while the number of female 11th-graders who had been pregnant at least once was 6.9 percent. * Of sexually active students, the majority of both males and females used condoms during their last sexual encounter. The percentage who used condoms, however, declined with age: more than 75 percent of active seventh-graders said they used condoms, but only 68.6 percent of 11th-grade boys and 53.8 percent of 11th-grade girls used them. * More than 70 percent of students in all three grades were engaging in "responsible sexual behavior," defined as either abstinence or the use of a condom. Only seventh-graders, however, were meeting the "Healthy People 2010" goal for sexual behavior, which requires 95 percent of students to either practice abstinence or use condoms. * More than 10 percent of male 11th-graders and 7 percent of females said they had driven a car after drinking alcoholic beverages at least once in the past 30 days. Still, the survey points out the number is less than half the national average. * While the survey doesn't define "weapon," it states that Knox County students were less likely than those in other parts of the country to have carried one to school in the 30 days prior to the survey. Among 11th-graders, 8.2 percent of boys and 2 percent of girls reported bringing a weapon to school; the national averages were 11.1 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh Sutcliffe