SURVEY FINDS DECLINE IN RISKY BEHAVIORS AMONG TEENS

Missoula Students Are Changing Their Own Behavior for the Better,
According to a Statewide Survey of Lifestyle Choices and Risks.

"Missoula has continually reported higher use rates than the rest of
the state that have held steady despite multiple prevention efforts,"
said Jori Frakie, head f the Missoula Forum for Children and Youth.
"Finally, we have turned the corner."

The Montana Prevention Needs Assessment takes place every two years.
It surveys eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders on their opinions about
risky behavior, such as how many of their peers smoke, drink or use
drugs. It also looks at "protective factors" such as whether families
have clear rules about substance abuse, whether stores have
procedures preventing the sale of tobacco or alcohol to minors and
how involved students are in their school, church or other community
organizations.

Missoula moved in good directions, down on the risky trends and up on
the protective trends, Frakie said. Underage drinking has dropped
about 7 percent in the past six years. Cigarette and marijuana
smoking also declined in the Missoula area. And the number of
eighth-graders reporting binge drinking episodes dropped from 19.2
percent in 2002 to 11.6 percent in 2006.

On the protective side, fewer students reported hanging out with
friends who used drugs. They also said there were more opportunities
and rewards for getting involved in community and social activities.

Frakie credited the extensive coalition of school and community
organizations that have pushed prevention strategies for the past decade.

"When we reduce teen alcohol and other drug use, we also reduce teen
violence, crime, injury, school drop-outs, sexual assault, teen
pregnancy and addiction," Frakie said. "Preventing (risky behavior)
in the first place is easier and less expensive than treating
problems once they have already started."

However, not all data is pointing the same way. The Office of Public
Instruction's Youth Risk Behavior Survey showed a strong trend of
declining tobacco use over the past decade. But its measurements of
alcohol and drug use are not showing big changes, according to OPI
statistician Susan Court.

"Our data is showing there's still improvement to be made," Court
said. "Seventy-seven percent of our kids having used alcohol in their
lifetime is too many. What we should be asking is: 'Is that
acceptable to you?' "

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey is also given every two years. Unlike
the Prevention Needs Assessment, it asks students about their own
behaviors. Court warned that while the two surveys "dovetail nicely"
in how they look at student behavior, making direct comparisons is
impossible. Given the state's high rates of alcohol use, teen suicide
and other risky behavior, there's no chance to relax yet.

"We've definitely done well in prevention education on tobacco use,"
Court said. "We have fewer kids having sex, and of those who do, more
are using condoms. We're very proud of those two trends right there.
But on alcohol, binge-drinking and marijuana, there's still room for
improvement."

A group of students marched up Mount Sentinel on Wednesday afternoon
to place a red ribbon next to the M. The symbol of a national drug
prevention week nearly didn't make the trip.

Missoula County Public Schools Safe Schools coordinator Marianne Moon
said Wednesday the students asked permission to put up the ribbon,
which they've done several years previously. But this time, they were
told no because of growing erosion problems on the hillside.

Moon asked MCPS Superintendent Jim Clark to seek an exception, but he
was unsuccessful. So the students took a petition to University of
Montana President George Dennison, asking for a waiver on the rule.
To their satisfaction, Dennison grandfathered their demonstration
into the hillside use rules, Moon said.

"Never underestimate the power of kids," Moon said.

View Reports Online

Copies of the Montana Prevention Needs Assessment results for
Missoula County and the state are available at the Missoulian Web
site at http://www.missoulian.com/pna_survey. There will also be a
link to the OPI Youth Risk Behavior Study results on the Web site.