Pubdate: Sat, 29 Sep 2001
Source: Portsmouth Herald (NH)
Copyright: 2001 Seacoast Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.seacoastonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1157
Author: Jesse J. DeConto
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

RISKY BUSINESS OF YOUTH

PORTSMOUTH - "Clearly, just telling kids about the consequences of 
their behavior is not working," said Portsmouth High School Principal 
Rick Gremlitz in response to a recent report on risky behavior among 
local students.

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey, furnished by the Psychiatric Research 
Center at Dartmouth Medical School, shows the vast majority of 
Portsmouth youth have used drugs, alcohol and tobacco by the time 
they hit high school. The survey was conducted in February.

Gremlitz said the results were reliable, since nearly every PHS 
student was surveyed. The survey showed 83 percent of local teens had 
used tobacco, alcohol, marijuana or other drugs at some point in 
their lives.

Sixty-two percent of boys and 49 percent of girls said they had 
marijuana at some point in their lives; 32 percent of teens said they 
used cocaine, heroine, inhalants, amphetamines or steroids at some 
point.

Forty-one percent of teens said they had engaged in sexual 
intercourse, most by age 15. More than half of those teens said they 
had two or more partners, while 12 percent of them reported they had 
at least six partners.

Gremlitz said despite teachers' efforts to demonstrate the risks of 
such behavior, students remain unconvinced. "We need to somehow 
impress them in a much more forceful way," he said. "There's a gamut 
of consequences that can result from these risky behaviors."

Gremlitz listed automobile accidents, teen-age pregnancies and 
sexually transmitted diseases as likely results of engaging in these 
risky behaviors.

The principal said the community needs a comprehensive plan for 
responding to the report.

"Our community has a problem that has to be addressed," said 
Gremlitz. "It's not a school problem. It's something that the 
community really has to take a look at. What we're really concerned 
about is the behavior that kids are involved with when they're not at 
school."

Superintendent Lyonel Tracy said Portsmouth schools will be taking 
steps to address the matter, such as offering more drug and alcohol 
awareness workshops and discussions.

However, Tracy said, it's going to take input from outside the school 
system as well.

"We need the commitment from the entire community to be successful," he said.

Gremlitz said school officials were not surprised by the results. "We 
had subjective evidence that there was a lot of partying going on on 
the weekends."

Tracy said given the anecdotal evidence, the numbers are not 
surprising, but they are disturbing.
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