POLL: TEENS' GREATEST PRESSURE IS GRADES, NOT SEX OR DRUGS

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Ashley Mitchell, a 16-year-old junior, isn't
feeling pressure to use drugs or have sex as she heads back to school this
fall. She's worried about her grades.

And she's not alone.

A new survey released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Education asked
1,015 to list the top one or two pressures they face. The largest group —
44 percent — cited "the pressure to get good grades," and 32 percent said
getting into college was among their greatest concern.

Twenty-nine percent said fitting in was one of the greatest pressures they
face, 19 percent listed the pressure to use drugs or alcohol, and 13
percent listed the pressure to be sexually active.

"I'm worrying about my future," said Miss Mitchell, who lives in San Jose.
"That's a lot more important than worrying about whether to drink at a party,"

The poll found three-fourths of the high school students said their future
looked promising, while two-thirds said their lives were somewhat tough.

When given a list of regrets older people often say about their high school
years, the majority of students polled rated "should have taken school more
seriously" at the top of the list.

The new poll was released by Secretary of Education Richard Riley during a
speech in which he urged business leaders in Silicon Valley to support
technology in schools. The poll was conducted by Peter D. Hart Research
Associates and paid for by Shell Oil Co.

"As educators, parents and concerned citizens, it is important for us to
listen to what students are telling us about their lives and their
aspirations," Riley told the business leaders. "This survey clearly shows
us that today's teens are not a generation to be discounted."

Across town at San Jose's Del Mar High School, Bobbie Sublette was
registering her daughter Candice for classes. She said the academic
competition there is stiff, particularly in the honors classes her daughter
takes.

"I don't put pressure on her myself, oh no. But she knows that to get a job
she's going to have to go to college, and that takes work," Ms. Sublette said.

Duncan Chaplin, a research associate at The Urban Institute in Washington,
D.C., a not-for-profit nonpartisan social policy research group, said most
young people today realize they need to finish high school and go to
college to earn a good living. Many high schools are also setting higher
standards, with more rigorous testing and requirements for graduation, he
said.

"The payoff to finishing more education has increased, and that presumably
has added more pressure to kids," Chaplin said.