POLL - GRADES STRESS TEENS MOST

SAN JOSE, Calif. - 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 teenagers from across the nation 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 concerns.

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.