PARENTAL SUPERVISION CUTS RISKS

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Children who are closely supervised by their
parents are less likely to engage in risky behavior, according to a
study that backs up popular belief.

The study did not track violent behavior by the children, but one
researcher said it reinforced calls for stricter monitoring by parents
in the wake of last month's shooting spree by two high school students
in Littleton, Colo.

``I think the message is: parents matter,'' said Dr. Susan Feigelman,
who is presenting the study Monday at the annual meeting of the
Pediatric Academic Societies in San Francisco.

University of Maryland researchers found that children living in
Baltimore public housing projects who felt their parents set limits
and talked with them about their concerns were far less likely to use
alcohol and marijuana, sell drugs or have unprotected sex.

Researchers surveyed 383 children, ages 9 to 15, periodically over a
four-year period beginning in 1993. The children were asked a variety
of questions every six months for two years and then annually in the
third and fourth years about the limits their parents set.

About 1 percent of the children who said they were highly monitored in
this way sold drugs in the first six months of the study, compared to
10 percent of those who said they had little parental
supervision.

Eighteen months later, however, 5 percent of children who were closely
monitored said they were dealing drugs while the percentage of
children who had far less supervision and were selling drugs rose only
slightly, to 12 percent.

Similar patterns emerged regarding drug and alcohol use and
unprotected sex. Feigelman said as children got older, the influence
of friends increased even if parental monitoring stayed the same.

That shows parental responsibility laws would ``serve a limited
purpose,'' said a Washington University School of Law professor
specializing in family law.

``I don't know that they really get to the root of the problem,'' said
Susan Appleton, an associate dean at the school who was unconnected to
the study.