GIRLS MATCH BOYS IN DRINKING

Teenagers

Surveys: Worrisome Behaviors Cross Gender Line As Freedoms Grow

WASHINGTON -- She lost count of the vodka shots. It was New Year's Eve
2005, and for this high school freshman, it was time to party. She
figured she'd be able to sleep it off -- she'd done it before. But by
the time she got home the next day, her head was still pounding, her
mouth was dry, and she couldn't focus. This time, the symptoms were
obvious even to her parents. After that night, she realized the
weekend buzzes had gone from being a maybe to a must.

"Before, it was a novelty," the Silver Spring, Md., teen said. "It
went from, 'Well, maybe ... ' to 'Oh, I know I'm going to drink this
weekend.' " A generation of parents and educators have pushed to
ensure that girls have the same opportunities as their male
counterparts, with notable results. In 2007, for example, it was girls
who dominated the national math and science competition sponsored by
Siemens. But a growing number of reports show the message of equality
might have a downside.

Teenage girls now equal or outpace teenage boys in alcohol
consumption, drug use and smoking, national surveys show. The number
of girls entering the juvenile justice system has risen steadily over
the past few years. A 2006 study that examined accident rates among
young drivers noted that although boys get into more car accidents,
girls are slowly closing the gap. "When you take off the shackles, you
release all kind of energy -- negative and positive," said James
Garbarino, the Maude C. Clarke Chair in Humanistic Psychology at
Loyola University in Chicago. "By letting girls loose to experience
America more fully, it's not surprising that they would absorb some of
its toxic environment."

The teenager with the vodka hangover, now 16, was one of several
teenage girls who agreed to talk about their lives and what compels
them to drink, smoke or indulge in behaviors that might make their
parents blanch. They asked that their names not be used so they could
speak frankly. In the same breath, the young women talked about
feeling "empowered" because they can choose from myriad colleges and
careers and about how that "freedom" extends to partying at clubs,
drinking and smoking. Experts worry that those feelings, coupled with
a teen's natural sense of invincibility, can be a potent and dangerous
combination.

"People tell me all the time (smoking) isn't good for me," said an
18-year-old from Bethesda, Md., rolling her eyes. But in her mind,
that's 30 years down the line. Same with the drinking -- she prefers
champagne -- and the occasional recreational drug.

"In the past, people have had this angelic picture, but girls are just
as bad as boys are," she said. "We do what we want to do, when we want
to do it." "I live for now," she said, a grin spreading across her
face. "It's great to be a girl."

Experts say there is no single explanation for why more teenage girls
are deciding to experiment with drugs or why some are getting into
fights. However, they do note that society's expectations about
girlhood have changed dramatically over the years. Annette Funicello's
wholesome beach blanket antics have given way to Britney Spears'
latest meltdown. "The why of what's happening is in part a direct
response to the advances that we're making as a society around gender
equity," said Deborah Prothrow-Stith, a professor of public health at
Harvard University. If society offers girls and boys the same
opportunities, that means they're exposed to the good as well as the
bad, she said.

"We really have to ask the questions, 'Why wouldn't you expect girls
to behave (like boys)?' Girls and women are closing all the other
gaps," Prothrow-Stith said.

Experts who work with teenage girls, say more options can also equal
more stress. "Our lives are so crazy, and kids are looking for
something when they feel" stressed, said Beverly Parker-Lewis, a
clinical psychologist with the Fairfax County, Va., public schools.
"Sometimes, the result is negative behavior." But the real challenge
of reaching the teen girl demographic might be convincing girls that
their behavior could have consequences -- if not now, somewhere down
the line.

When asked why they drink, the 18-year-old and a friend paused for a
moment before summing up the appeal in one succinct statement: "Life,"
the 18-year-old declared, as her friend chimed in, "is better with a
buzz." Recent research According to a 2006 survey by the National
Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University,
girls between the ages of 12 and 17 were at equal or higher risk of
substance abuse compared with boys. That same year, the White House
Office of National Drug Control Policy found that the number of girls
who smoke or abuse prescription drugs had surpassed that of boys. More
troubling: The increase in drug usage among girls comes at a time when
overall numbers for teenage drug abuse are on the decline. A recent
study, conducted by emergency medicine physicians at the Center for
Trauma and Injury Prevention Research at the University of California
at Irvine medical school, examined accident rates of young drivers
between 2000 and 2004 and found that although boys have more
accidents, young female drivers appear to be closing the gap.