FEWER OCEANSIDE STUDENTS SAY THEY DO DRUGS, DRINK

School Board Reviews Annual Survey Results

OCEANSIDE -- Fewer students in the Oceanside Unified School District
are doing drugs and drinking, according to the results of a survey
released Tuesday, though there is concern that middle school students
may need more prevention programs.

"We have good news to show you," Jim Shirley, a program specialist
with the district, said before he presented the results to the school
board Tuesday.

Last year, 64 percent of the 11th-graders surveyed reported having
ever consumed alcohol -- down from 73 percent in 2001 -- and 39
percent said they've smoked marijuana, down from 47 percent during
the same period.

The results showed similar declines in the other grades, except
seventh.

In seventh grade, students reported alcohol use was down slightly --
from 32 percent in 2001 to 30 percent last year -- but the use of
marijuana and inhalants showed a slight increase, from 12 percent to
13 percent for marijuana and from 13 percent to 16 percent for
inhalants, the report shows.

Tuesday's report was based on an anonymous survey conducted last year
with students in grades five, seven, nine and 11. Districts must
administer the survey every two years to qualify for certain state
and federal money.

The state requires at least 60 percent of students in each grade to
take the survey, though it's up to students and parent whether they
participate or not. In Oceanside Unified, roughly 70 percent of
students in each grade level took the survey last year.

In addition to information about drug and alcohol use, the survey
also included questions about violence, health and
perceptions.

Of the seventh-graders who took the survey last year, 32 percent said
they have been in a fight -- up from 29 percent the year before --
and 17 percent said they have brought a weapon to school in the last
12 months, up from 15 percent the year before. In the other grades,
those numbers went down slightly.

The decrease in students saying they've used drugs or been involved
in violence is the result of a variety of prevention programs in the
district, said Randi Gibson, director of student support services for
the district.

The survey results help district officials keep an eye on potential
problem areas and decide which prevention programs are needed, Gibson
said.

From a health perspective, many more students reported eating at
least five servings of fruits and vegetables the day before the
survey, when compared with previous years. For seventh-graders the
percentage of students who said they had eaten fruits and vegetables
the day before was 55 percent this year, up from 36 percent in 2001.

"That awareness of eating healthy seems to be being picked up by the
kids," Gibson said.