MORE TEENS IN STATE USING DRUGS, ALCOHOL

But high school poll finds drop in sex activity

Smoking, drinking and drug use rose among Wisconsin high school
students in the 1990s while the proportion of them involved in sexual
activity declined, according to survey results released Monday by the
state Department of Public Instruction.

Thirty-four percent of ninth-through 12th-grade students said they
engaged in binge drinking (five or more drinks within a couple of
hours) in the 30 days prior to filling out the survey in 1999,
compared with 29% who gave that answer in a comparable 1993 survey.

In the new survey, almost a quarter of all high school seniors said
they had at least three binge drinking episodes in the prior month.

The percentage of students who said they had used marijuana in the
previous 30 days doubled from 11% in 1993 to 22% in 1999. The
percentage saying they had been offered illegal drugs on school
grounds during the prior year was up from 20% in 1993 to 29% six years
later.

And the percentage saying they had smoked cigarettes in the preceding
month rose to 38%, compared with 32% in 1993. Twenty-six percent of
high school seniors in the new survey said they had smoked every day
during the previous month.

But while ingested vices were up, there was some evidence that sexual
activity had declined. The 41% of high school students who said they
had engaged in sexual intercourse was down from 47% in 1993.

Other good news: The percentages of students involved in fights or
carrying weapons were generally small and had declined from 1993 to
1999, while the proportion wearing helmets while riding motorcycles or
bicycles was up.

John Benson, state superintendent of schools, said analysis of the
survey results showed that students with strong families and positive
attitudes toward their school and community were less likely to engage
in risky behavior than other students.

"We are learning more and more that strong family and community ties
can do a great deal to help children along the path to maturity,"
Benson said. "Parental and teacher involvement in students' lives came
out strongly in the survey results as factors that can help young
people avoid risky behaviors."

Benson said that examination of the results also showed that students
who engage in one risky behavior are highly likely to engage in other
such behavior - that there is strong overlap among students who drink
and who engage in sexual activity, for example.

The survey involved 1,336 students in 46 public high schools around
the state who filled out a 96-question form. Both the schools and
students were selected using random procedures. The poll was conducted
by the Survey Research Laboratory of the University of Wisconsin
Extension as part of a continuing effort of the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention to determine levels of risky behavior
among teenagers. The margin of error varied from question to question
but was generally less than 3%, officials said.

No results for individual schools or parts of the state were
released.

The survey explored student behavior not only for vices but in such
areas as exercise, diet and mental health.

More than a quarter of high school students reported seriously
considering suicide during the previous year and more than a quarter
said they had been depressed.

While the percentage of students who said they had ever engaged in
sexual intercourse went down, the frequency of sexual activity among
those who have had sex appeared to increase. Of those who had sexual
experience, 74% said they had intercourse during the previous three
months, up from 69% in 1993.

The survey found that 44% of the high school students said it is
important to them to delay having sexual intercourse until they are
married, engaged or are an adult in a long-term relationship.

Four out of five students in the survey said they agreed or strongly
agreed with the statement, "My family loves me and gives me help and
support when I need it." Half of them agreed or strongly agreed that
"My teachers really care about me and give me a lot of
encouragement."

The high-risk combination of drinking and driving occurred frequently
among those responding to the survey, with 38% saying they had ridden
in a car in the previous month with a driver who had been drinking.
And 28% of high school seniors said they had driven a car after
drinking in the prior 30 days.

While 51% of the students agreed or strongly agreed with the
statement, "It is important to me not to use alcohol or other drugs,"
30% disagreed or strongly disagreed.