RESULTS OF STUDENT SURVEY TROUBLING

PARENTS of high school students in Oklahoma, take heed: If you haven't
been paying much attention to your child's activities, a new survey
suggests you should. The survey of Oklahoma students in grades 9-12
showed that about half -- 51 percent of the males, 49 percent of the
females -- said they have already had sex. Of those, 15.6 percent, or
nearly one in six, said they have had more than four partners.

That get your attention? Try this: Nearly 6 percent said they had sex
before age 13!

This is the first time Oklahoma students have taken part in a study
that's conducted every other spring by the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. The Oklahoma Youth Risk Behavior Survey asked
questions of 1,384 students from 36 schools across the state.

Respondents were ensured anonymity, which state Health Commissioner
Dr. Mike Crutcher said theoretically should lead to truthful answers.
"It's as valid a survey to determine the levels of this type of
behavior as we're going to get," he said.

Consider that nearly half of all students surveyed said they had drunk
alcohol in the previous 30 days, and about a third had consumed five
or more drinks within two hours. Ten percent had tried methamphetamine
and about 9 percent had dabbled in cocaine. About one-fifth said they
had been offered, sold or given illegal drugs -- on school property.

National data from the 2003 survey won't be released for several
months, so it isn't known how our state's high schoolers compare to
those from around the country. But whether we're ahead of the curve in
some areas or behind it in others, the data should jolt parents,
educators and other mentors.

The numbers bring to mind the old TV safety campaign that would give
the time and ask, "Do you know where your child is?" Where, indeed.