I-L STUDENT SURVEY RESULTS RAISE EYEBROWS

MEREDITH - In a one-month period, 120 Inter-Lakes High School students have
ridden in a vehicle driven by someone who had been drinking.

During the same timeframe, 68 Inter-Lakes students reported driving a
vehicle after they had been drinking.

Ninety-eight percent of the 91-member graduating class reported having used
tobacco, alcohol or marijuana.

These findings, part of a Youth Risk Behavior Survey, raised both eyebrows
and some concerns when they were released during a Tuesday night school
board meeting.

"This is not only a youth problem - it is a community problem. It's easy to
blame our students when it's the adults who set the example and change the
norm. Prevention must become a community priority, a state priority, our
priority," said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Scott AndersEn.

The survey was administered in January to students in grades nine through
12. Approximately 285 students, or 71 percent of the school's total
enrollment, participated. Fifty-four percent of the respondents were girls
and 46 percent boys.

Statewide, 33 high schools participated in the survey which assesses risk
behaviors among teens including the use of alcohol, tobacco and other
drugs. Survey participants are given anonymity in an effort to increase the
likelihood of truthful responses.

Before the results of the survey were detailed, the school board heard from
Center Harbor Chief of Police Andy Faller. His department broke up an
underage drinking party on June 15 and discovered that the bulk of the
party-goers were Inter-Lakes students. Because the party occurred on the
Friday night of Motorcycle Week, Faller said, police resources were
stretched thin and he was unable to call for backup. The party-goers were
ultimately released without being charged.

On Tuesday, Faller urged the board to consider changing the date of
graduation to prevent it from coinciding with Motorcycle Week. Shifting the
ceremony to a different date would also make it easier for out-of-town
family coming to attend graduation to find a motel room, he said.

School Board member Diane Drenkhahn said changing the date would also allow
graduates to enjoy dinner out with the parents. During the height of
Motorcycle Week, reservations at area restaurants are at a premium, she
lamented.

Faller expressed his willingness to work with the School Board to explore
selecting a different date for graduation and to take proactive steps in
addressing the issue of underage drinking.

"Everyone needs to work together, and I don't think there is any benefit of
pointing fingers," Faller commented.

Currently, AndersEn said, the date of graduation is set based upon the
start of the school year. Seniors are allowed to complete five fewer days
of classes than the rest of the district, making their last day fall on the
first Friday of Motorcycle Week. Possible solutions could include starting
school either earlier or later, or cutting some of the vacation time now
built into the calendar, the administrator said.

If graduation were held prior to Motorcycle Week, Andersen cautioned that
one of the potential consequences could be awarding diplomas to students
who ultimately don't meet the graduation requirements.

School Board Chairman Carolyn Schoenbauer recommended the issue be added to
the board's next agenda to allow time for the necessary planning that would
need to accompany such a change.

In detailing the risk survey, AndersEn said, he is especially concerned by
the high percentages of alcohol use among the senior class. Some of the
most telling statistics, he said, show that in all but the 10th grade, high
school student's use of alcohol in the month preceding the survey outpaced
both the state and national average. And binge drinking, characterized as
five or more drinks within the past month, was also above the state and
national average, accept in the ninth and 10th grades.

Other startling statistics, cited by AndersEn include that six percent, or
25 students had consumed alcohol on school grounds in the month prior to
the survey. Similarly, 11 percent or 40 students reported smoking marijuana
on school property, last December.

"The statistic that just turns my stomach is the age of initial use,"
AndersEn told the school board. The survey shows that students as young as
the fifth grade have used both alcohol and drugs and that by the time they
reach the high school, 63 percent of girls have used them and 70 percent of
the boys.

Board member Carl Johnson asked Andersen whether he felt the survey results
were an accurate representation of substance use at Inter-Lakes.

"I think these are hard numbers," the administrator responded. He believes
a contributing factor to the problems identified by the survey is that the
Meredith area is a tourism Mecca where people come to relax and have a good
time.

"That's what our youth growing up are seeing and partaking in," said Andersen.

But Business Administrator Christine Hayes said she believes the addition
of a School Resource Officer and a Student Assistance Counselor may be
helping students to "own-up" to their substance abuse, while in past years
students denied they had a problem.

Johnson, who also serves as a state Senator said it's discouraging to see
state government and private foundations pour millions of dollars into the
substance abuse problem, yet see so little results.

"It's going to take our communities putting our arm around the problem.
Loving arms and tough-love arms and it's absolutely imperative that we work
together - the school board, the police departments, the selectmen - and
tackle this head on. We begin with awareness and an action plan," AndersEn
said.

"I'm so glad that we're facing up to this in a honest way," commented
school board member Lee Webb of Sandwich.

The youth risk survey can be found on the district's Web site at _
HYPERLINK "http://www.inter-lakes" _www.inter-lakes.K12.nh.us. More
information about teen substance abuse can be found at _ HYPERLINK
"http://www.newfutures.org" _www.newfutures.org