SURVEY REVEALS TEENS' VIEWS

Some Teens Report Their Parents Don't Know Where Their Children Are At.

DARLINGTON -- Over half (54 percent) of teens "strongly agree" that
their families love them and give them support when they need it.
Based on teen perceptions, 65 percent of teens feel their parents
monitor them at a "very high" level, while 15 percent feel their
parents practice "low" or "very low" parental monitoring. Teens
report they are more likely to have good talks with their parents
about personal problems and plans after high school than drugs and sex.

Fifteen school districts and more than 3,700 students took part in
the Southwest Wisconsin Youth Survey. UW-Extension faculty and
academic staff in Crawford, Grant, Lafayette and Richland counties
are involved in processing and presenting the findings. The seventh
through 12th grade students who took the survey attended schools in
the Cooperative Educational Service Agency (CESA) District 3.

Teens were asked how often their parents knew where they were after
school or going out at night, who their friends were and if they knew
the parents of their friends.

Seventy-two percent of teens reported that their parents knew where
they were going, whom they were to be with and if they were going to
be late. Twenty percent of seventh-grade teens report their parents
never or rarely know where they are after school.

Of the teens who strongly agreed that their parents think it's wrong
for teens to drink, 81 percent reported not using alcohol in the last
30 days, while 40 percent of teens who strongly disagreed with that
statement reported not using alcohol in the last 30 days. Similar
results can be seen with the use of tobacco and other drugs and other
teen behaviors.

Sixty-four percent of teens who reported having consistent
enforcement of family rules strongly agreed that their family loved
them and provided support when they need it. Of the teens who
reported inconsistent family rules, only 40 percent strongly agreed
that their family loves and supports them.

Sixteen percent of teens who say their parents would report them for
school code violations and support the school consequences or assign
their own, binge drank in the past month. Thirty-two percent of teens
who reported their parents would not report them binge drank in the past month.

"The importance of eating family meals together can also be taken
into consideration. Twenty-one percent of teens, when asked how many
nights a week do you eat as a family, reported none," said Jessie
Potterton, Lafayette County 4-H youth development educator. "The data
however, links eating three or more dinners a week with higher grades
and reduced levels of alcohol and tobacco use. Fifty-one percent of
teens reported eating three or more dinners a week together as a family."

The school districts of Argyle, Belmont, Benton, Black Hawk,
Cassville, Cuba City, Darlington, Fennimore, Iowa-Grant, Ithaca,
Lancaster, Platteville, Potosi, River Ridge and Seneca participated
in the survey, which was conducted in September. Participating school
districts and the Grant County Drug-Free Coalition funded the survey.

A full report on the SWYS results is due out this summer. For more
information on the survey, contact the local school district or
Potterton at (608) 776-4820.