Risky Behavior Survey

REPORT'S FINDING IS NO SURPRISE TO TEENS

Many Of Them Say Drinking, Drugs, Sex Common; They Cite Peer
Pressure, Desire To Fit In

A federal survey recently revealed that Mecklenburg County teenagers
- -- more often than teens nationwide -- engage in risky behavior, such
as drugs, drinking and sex.

But if their parents were dismayed by the findings, many southern
Mecklenburg teens said they weren't surprised.

More than a dozen students from Pineville to Mint Hill said last week
that sex, drugs and alcohol, permeate many teenage lives.

"You definitely wouldn't go a whole day without hearing about it,"
said Erica Savage, a UNC Chapel Hill freshman who went to Butler High
School in Matthews. "It seemed like teenagers had no reservations."

Drug use is common, in and out of school, teens said.

"Are there drugs in school? Oh, yeah," Officer Peter Grant of the
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department's south division said.

In some cases, marijuana can be easier for high schoolers to get than
alcohol, he said. But teens do harder drugs, too, including ecstasy
and cocaine, he said.

Where do they get the money? "Have you seen south Charlotte?" Grant said.

"With a lot of people, you can tell," said Josh Blackwell, a
17-year-old senior at South Mecklenburg who was hanging out at
Carolina Place Mall last week.

When asked how many teens do drugs, he said, "Oh, it's a lot."

Some duck outside during the day to smoke pot, and few get caught,
Josh said. "You can smell it, but it takes a while to drift into the
building, and by then, they're gone," he said.

Just over the county line, drugs are also a problem, said a Fort Mill
High senior who was shopping at Carolina Place Mall.

"There are a lot of dealers" at school, she said. "There's a big
chain of drugs. In the past, I was really big into it. I had to make
myself stop."

Over time, she said, the highs gave way to depression.

"Whenever I was on drugs, I felt like that," she said. "I used to be
depressed. It was really bad."

Others said the problem isn't as big as the survey suggests. "It's
not something that's so bad that people should take their kids out of
public schools," said Alex Lassiter, a UNC Chapel Hill freshman and
Providence High grad.

Underage drinking

Drinking is also common for many teens. According to the survey,
nearly 40 percent of CMS students said they'd had at least one drink
in the past month.

"We hang out and party," a 15-year-old Ardrey Kell student who was at
Carolina Place Mall said. "Sometimes there's drinking and drugs. It's fun."

Emily Heyman, a UNC Chapel Hill freshman who graduated from
Providence, said sex was a major issue in high school, too.

"I have about four friends, including myself, who are still virgins,
out of about 25 girls," she said. "And it's rare to find a guy who is."

While some boys at Providence bragged about having sex, girls usually
kept quiet. They were more likely to have been pressured into it --
and then regret it, she said.

"They lose their virginity to their long-term boyfriends, and then
they find out that (their boyfriends) didn't care about them as much
as they thought," she said. "They're heartbroken. A lot of it was
wanting to fit in, and a lot of it was pressure from boys. It just
seems like everyone has sex now."

Reasons for doing drugs, drinking and having sex vary. Some kids are
trying to fit in; others said unhappy lives at home prompted their
friends to look for release. Few of the students interviewed
volunteered worries about consequences of high-risk behaviors like
drunken driving accidents, pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases.

Alex, the Providence High grad, said parents have a big influence on
their teens' behavior.

"A lot of times, it's the opposite of what you'd think," he said.
"Someone with a parent who is so overprotective is often times more
likely to rebel."

On the other hand, lenient parents can be a problem, too.

The Ardrey Kell student who said he parties described his parents as
"pretty laid-back" when it comes to monitoring what he's up to. In
fact, he said he's gotten more lectures from teachers who pull him
aside after class.

And his friend, a 17-year-old Trinity Christian Prep student, said,
"My parents ask a few questions, but when they don't get what they
want, they drop it."

Emily, the Providence grad, said she thinks stable homes are key.

"A lot of the kids who were really into drugs and drinking didn't
come from the happiest families," she said. "They seemed to turn to
those things to not really feel life, instead of having to deal with it."

For many, it's just the thing to do, said Erica, the Butler grad.

She avoided the party scene, but those who didn't thought, "When
you're in high school ... there's nothing else to do," she said.

Perhaps the biggest reason for engaging in risky behavior is pressure
- -- not from friends, but from school and from themselves, teens said.

"For seniors, it's knowing what they're going to do (after
graduation), for freshmen, it's figuring out the whole school thing,
and in between, it's fitting in," Josh said. "I have one friend who
does a lot of things to be cool."

Most students said it was important to find someone to trust.

"Everyone I know is insecure in some way," the Fort Mill student
said. "But having one best friend you can seriously talk to helps. If
you're happy with yourself, you've got the world in your hands."