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.