STUDIES FIND TEENAGERS ARE ON BETTER BEHAVIOR

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Sex, alcohol, drugs.

For teenagers, these have long been considered rites of passage, the
conventional ways to rebel.

Maybe not anymore.

Now, being "good" is in.

That seems to be the conclusion from the host of studies and surveys that
have trickled out during the past year.

Earlier this month, a federal study reported that smoking and drug use
among teens continued to decline in 2004, especially among younger teens.
Another government study reported that U.S. teens are waiting longer to
have sexual intercourse and that the vast majority of those who do are
using contraception.

No one is sure why teenagers are engaging in less risky behaviors, and many
experts are wary about labeling today's teens as "good," free of problems
that plagued earlier generations.

Briana Taylor, 17, a senior at Leigh High School in San Jose, says she has
been influenced to steer clear of drugs by the funny and smart anti- drug
public health ads on MTV and in teen magazines, especially the one with the
punch line: "Family: The Anti-Drug."

Indeed, targeted public health campaigns may be succeeding in educating
teens on the potential negative consequences of specific substances and
behaviors. The drop in risky behaviors could also be due to the fact that
with the Internet and television, kids are exposed to more but also can
seek out information as they need it. And today's parents - the
hell-raising generation that terrified their parents - may be better
informed than the previous generation and able to address problems quickly,
directly and calmly.

And there could be another reason, the corollary to the over-scheduled
child. "I don't think kids have a lot of time to be bad anymore," says Mary
Lamia, a clinical psychologist and host of the radio show "KidTalk with Dr.
Mary."

From movies and television shows, Christine Takaichi, 15, of San Jose,
thought high school was going to be about battling temptations, "the things
you weren't supposed to do," she says.

The reality at her all-girls, private high school has been different. So
far, she hasn't been to a party where there was alcohol. Perhaps more
significantly, the high school sophomore says: "I've never made a bad
decision because of pressure around me."

Recently, Briana asked her parents if she could attend parties. "I asked
them to trust me that I wouldn't do anything like drink," she says. Her
parents agreed.

Her mother, Lisa Taylor, 44, says she is better prepared than her parents.
"I think there's more awareness now for having lived through it," she says.

Researchers say teens are still having sex, drinking and doing drugs. Just
not as much.

For example, the teen birth rate fell 38 percent from 1990 to 2002,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's good
news. But still, 47 percent of high school students report having had
sexual intercourse (down from 54 percent in 1991).

And while illicit drug use is down overall among teens and has been falling
steadily since 1996, drugs are still a part of many teenagers' lives. By
the time they have left high school, about 50 percent of kids have tried an
illicit drug. Among seniors, 39 percent have used an illicit drug in the
past 12 months, according to a recent report by Monitoring the Future, a
30-year survey of teenagers and young adults by the University of Michigan.

Each substance and behavior has its own story about alleged benefits and
potential dangers. What changes is whether teens believe the benefits
outweigh the potential harm, or vice versa, says Lloyd D. Johnston,
professor at the University of Michigan and the survey's principal
investigator.

For example, for teens, sex or sex without contraception may have become
less appealing thanks to the blitz of information around HIV and sexually
transmitted diseases. "Ecstasy," once viewed as a safe party drug, has seen
a big drop in the past five years perhaps because of negative news stories.

Perhaps no drug rides the wave of public opinion more than marijuana. Among
seniors in high school, marijuana use peaked in 1979 with more than 60
percent saying they used it. In 1992, it fell to its lowest point - 32
percent. Its use rose again in the 1990s, but has been falling among
seniors since 2001 with 46 percent saying they used it in 2003.

"What can happen is generational forgetting," says Johnston. "Another
generation comes along and they aren't hearing about the hazards of drugs
and they become a vulnerable group."

That kind of generational forgetting may be happening now with alcohol. The
American Medical Association recently reported the percentage of teenage
girls who drink alcoholic beverages is rising faster than that of boys.
Among teens, a popular new drink is known as "alcopops," which is sweet but
has 5 to 7 percent alcohol content.

For Gregg Zaire, director of teen programs for the Boys and Girls Club of
the Peninsula, it's a mistake for the public to think that teens have given
up all vices.

"We are doing very well," he says. "But we don't see what's coming around
the corner."

Educators, therapists and doctors say they attribute some of the
improvements in teen smoking, drinking and sex to how they now talk to
teens or help parents view teen risk-taking.

"Rather than say you shouldn't have premature sexual activity, you
shouldn't smoke, the programs are more in the context of what it means to
be healthy," says Dr. Seth Ammerman, adolescent medicine specialist at
Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford.