SURVEY SAYS: TEEN BOOZE, POT USE DOWN

But more in gangs, fewer exercise than in 2000

Fewer area teens are drinking booze or smoking pot and cigarettes, but more
teens are in gangs, according to the 2005 Dane County Youth Survey.

The survey was completed by 23,000 7th-through 12th-grade students from 14
school districts in Dane County. The high school (grades 9-12) results were
released today; the middle school (grades 7-8) results will be released
later this summer.

Sixth-grade students don't take the survey because organizers feel they are
too young to be grouped in with the older teens.

Tobacco and alcohol usage has been declining among area youth, but this is
the first time in 15 years that overall marijuana use has shown a decline.
However, the percentage of high schoolers smoking pot on a daily basis went
up from 4 percent in 2000 to 6 percent in 2005, the survey found.

The survey has been conducted every five years since 1980 by the Dane County
Youth Commission.

Barb Arnold, chairwoman of the commission, told The Capital Times this
morning that students are getting the message and are trying to take better
care of themselves, with ample doses of positive reinforcement from
educators, the media and especially parents.

"Kids are getting smarter," Arnold said. "Messages are finally getting
through to the kids about what we want them to do, not what we don't want
them to do."

The survey of the 14,500 high school students showed:

. Alcohol drinking at least once a month dropped to 29 percent in 2005 from
36 percent in 2000.

. Cigarette smoking on a daily basis fell from 12 percent in 2000 to 5
percent in 2005.

. Overall marijuana use (using pot anytime in the past year) went down from
33 percent in 2000 to 29 percent this year, reversing an upward trend that
started in 1990, when usage was 26 percent, then went up to 31 percent in
1995.

. The number of high school students volunteering each week increased from
38 percent five years ago to 42 percent this year.

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk said the survey gives important
information to county youth agencies on how to serve young people better.

"The results are so helpful, as we look for places where we can make an
investment in our youth," Falk said at a press conference in her office
announcing the results of the survey.

Not all of the news is positive from the high school part of the survey.

. Exercise is down, with 29 percent of area teens saying they exercise at
least five times per week, down from 35 percent in 2000.

. The rate of binge drinking (five or more drinks at one time) remained
steady at 30 percent of those who say they drink.

. Gang affiliation went up from 4 percent in 2000 to 6 percent in 2005.

. Daily marijuana use went up from 3.6 percent in 2000 to 4.6 percent in
2005.

"The survey also shows more parents are talking with their kids about risky
behavior including sex, alcohol and other drugs," Falk said. "That is key,
because as the survey shows, kids who know their parents are concerned or
disapprove of these activities are much less likely to engage in them."

Dane County's Human Services Department will spend almost $300,000 this year
on youth community prevention services. That includes supporting 17 youth
resources centers in 10 communities throughout Dane County, two programs
aimed at Latino youth, and school- and community-based grants through the
Safe and Stable Families and Youth Commission grants.

The cost of the $37,000 survey was paid for with $10,000 from the Youth
Commission, $11,000 from the participating school districts, $5,000 from the
Division of Public Health, $5,000 from the United Way of Dane County, $5,000
in a state incentive grant and $1,000 from the Tobacco Free Dane County
Coalition.

"The results of the survey shed important light on the concerns that are
important to the young people we work with," Arnold said.

"The survey shows it's important to share the beliefs, skills and attitudes
we want our kids to have instead of concentrating on the bad things."

Participating school districts included Madison, Belleville, Cambridge,
Deerfield, Marshall, McFarland, Middleton-Cross Plains, Monona Grove, Mount
Horeb, Stoughton, Oregon, Sun Prairie, Verona and Wisconsin Heights.