BILLINGS TEENS BUCK STATE TRENDS, BEHAVIOR SURVEY SHOWS

Fewer high school students in Billings use tobacco than their peers
across the state and report less frequent use of alcohol, according
to a recent Billings School District 2 survey.

More Billings students, however, have driven drunk, attempted suicide
and reported being raped than people their age in the rest of the
state.

Those were some of the findings in the Youth Risk Behavior Survey,
which was administered this fall to a random selection of 100
students in each SD2 high school.

Across the state, 20 percent of high school students surveyed said
they smoked 20 or more cigarettes in the previous 30 days, compared
with 16.8 percent of Billings students. Smoking among Billings
students is down from 2005, when 19.3 percent reported frequent
smoking. Almost 13 percent of the state's teens said they smoked
every day, but in Billings, only 6 percent reported a daily smoking
habit. In Billings, 8.6 percent students admitted using smokeless
tobacco, compared with the 12.9 percent state average.

Teen alcohol consumption - meaning a student who reported drinking
during the previous 30 days - is lower among Billings students than
among students in the rest of the state by about 4 percent but has
increased locally by about 3 percent since 2005.

Marijuana use among teens in Billings mirrors the state average, with
about 21 percent of students reporting use in the previous 30 days.
Slightly more Billings students have tried cocaine and
methamphetamines than their state peers.

Thirteen percent of Billings students said they have attempted
suicide, while the average statewide was 7.9 percent. But the number
of students who reported seriously considering suicide was the same
in Billings as in the rest of the state - about 15 percent.

SD2 administrators are reluctant to put too much weight into the
survey. It is self-reported, which isn't as reliable as other
measures because students tend to underreport illegal or unhealthy
behavior. The margin of error across the state is plus or minus 3
percent.

However, the information from the survey may be more valuable when
combined with other information the district gathers on student drug
and alcohol use, including information from teachers, counselors and
the Billings Police Department's school resource officers.

"The (survey) gives us general information, but in our district it's
a pretty small snapshot," said Scott Anderson, SD2 secondary
education director.

Across the state, 4,030 high school students from 47 schools
participated in the survey, which is voluntary and confidential.
Designed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the
survey asks 90 questions concerning violence and injury; drug,
alcohol and tobacco use; sexual behavior; physical inactivity; and
dietary habits.

The survey is administered in odd-numbered years. In even-numbered
years, SD2 administers the Prevention Needs Assessment, which is
given to eighth-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students. The Prevention
Needs Assessment is another method of measuring the effectiveness of
the various programs and intervention plans SD2 uses. The data from
the Prevention Needs Assessment tracks specific groups of students
over a period of several years, said Kathy Aders, the director of
Yellowstone County Safe and Drug Free School Consortium.

The Youth Risk survey is also administered to middle school students,
and more than 400 Billings middle schoolers completed it.

However, this year the Montana Office of Public Instruction changed
the format of the survey for middle school students, Aders said, so
comparison of data is unreliable until students take the survey again
in 2009. Before this year, middle school students took the same
survey that was administered to high school students.

From Aders' perspective, Billings students are about where she
expects when it comes to drug, alcohol and tobacco use.

"Over the years, we continue to improve a little at a time," Aders
said. "I think it's a cooperation of parents, school and community
and working with a combination of different programs."

Anderson said Rimrock Foundation offers drug and alcohol dependency
counseling at West and Senior high schools, and tobacco-cessation
classes are offered at high schools as the need arises. The
Tumbleweed Program for runaway youths has a presence in the high
schools, and school counselors also help students in need.

"There's a reason it's getting better," Anderson said. "It's because
you're doing something. We're always adding programs. There's always
something we can do."