Pubdate: Mon, 10 Apr 2006 Source: Sheboygan Press (WI) Copyright: 2006 Sheboygan Press Contact: http://www.sheboygan-press.com/contact/forms/editor-letter.shtml Website: http://www.sheboygan-press.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3993 Author: Kevin Braley, Herald Times Reporter Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) MORE AREA STUDENTS USE DRUGS, ALCOHOL OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL 48 Percent Of Area Students Had Alcohol In Past 30 Days; 14.5 Percent Have Smoked Marijuana In Past 30 Days MANITOWOC -- Lincoln High School junior Mike Tyeptanar often hears stories in the halls about classmates drinking and partying on the weekends. He said too few students take drinking seriously, even though he believes they should. "I think students are too lenient with drinking," he said. "People are usually joking about how people were getting drunk at parties. I think they should take it more seriously. It's when they don't that accidents happen." According to results from a recent Youth Risk Behavior Study, 48 percent of high school students in Manitowoc County had one alcoholic drink in the past 30 days, and 30 percent had five or more drinks in one sitting. Just more than 40 percent say they believe their peers would say it's OK to have five or more drinks in a row. The test was given to a sample group of ninth-through 12th-grade students during the 2004-05 school year and was administered online. The survey, developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is designed to measure student behaviors and perceptions relating to alcohol, tobacco, other drugs and other aspects of their lives. In Manitowoc County, 6.4 percent of high school students tried marijuana for the first time before age 13, according to the survey. Statewide, 6.7 percent say they tried the drug before age 13. Overall, 28 percent of Manitowoc County high school students have smoked marijuana, and 7.8 percent of students here have used cocaine or crack cocaine. Reedsville High School Principal Tony Butturini said he's confident drugs and alcohol are not being brought into the school, and said it's the out-of-school parties he's concerned about. "I don't usually hear stories, but I do sometimes hear about parties going on," he said. "I'm not naive enough to think they're not happening. If we have anyone drinking, it's a big problem. And if we have anyone using drugs, it's a big problem. I want no one in this school using." In its attempt to keep students drug and alcohol free, the school occasionally offers weekend activities -- like the post-prom event held on Saturday. "We try to put these on to give students a safe place to go," Butturini said. Butturini said the school also uses social services like the Manitowoc County Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention and the DARE program administered by the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department. The Manitowoc Police Department also has a DARE program. Sheriff's deputy and DARE officer Mike Herrmann said the program is designed to give students information about drugs, their affects and ways to say 'no.' "We believe the program does work," he said. The DARE program through the Sheriff's Department is offered at area parochial schools and in the Reedsville, Valders and Mishicot school districts. The program introduces fifth- and sixth-grade students to information about alcohol, tobacco and marijuana, and also teaches students friend-building techniques and ways to stay in control of friendships. Butturini said they team up with the Sheriff's Department to search the school unannounced for drugs and alcohol and are yet to turn up any drugs. That's a step in the right direction, Butturini said. The survey results show that 10.8 percent of high school students in Manitowoc County have been offered, sold or given illegal drugs on school property. Butturini hopes that using programs like DARE and educating students about drugs and alcohol will curb the sale, possession and use of drugs and alcohol. "I have a goal of having no one using in this school," he said. - --------------------------- Survey says... * 28.4 percent of Manitowoc County high school students say they used alcohol before age 13. The state average is 23.7 percent. * 89 percent of county high school students believe there is at least some risk in drinking five or more drinks in a sitting, yet 30 percent have had five or more drinks at one time in the past 30 days. * 14.5 percent of high school students have smoked marijuana in the past 30 days -- 5.6 percent have smoked the drug more than 10 times. * 38.6 percent of the students surveyed say they either approve or are indifferent when asked how much they approve of people smoking marijuana occasionally. * 4.2 percent of students in Manitowoc County have used cocaine in the past 30 days. * 7.3 percent of students have used in their lifetime other drugs, including methamphetamines, heroin, Ecstasy or sniffed glue to get high. * 1.2 percent of students say they've attended school in past 12 months under the influence of drugs or alcohol. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman