DO STUDENTS GET MESSAGE ABOUT DRUGS, ALCOHOL?

Carrie Kulinski vividly recalls her chat with a student last year.

Why did he want to drink alcohol? He didn't want to, he told her, but
he thought everyone else was, so he should, too.

That's why Kulinski, the Janesville School District's coordinator of
drug and alcohol programs, wants to emphasize this message:

Not all kids drink. In fact, the percentage of those who do is slowly
declining.

The latest survey of Janesville students in grades 6, 8, 10 and 12
bears that out. In the survey taken in March, 59 percent of seniors
said they drank beer in the previous year. That continues a downward
trend since 76 percent said they did in the 1994 survey.

The trend buoys the hopes of Kulinski and Kate Baldwin, executive
director of Partners in Prevention of Rock County.

Peer pressure still leads too many Janesville kids to drink, use
tobacco or do other drugs. But look closely at the new survey
results, and you will find positives.

The percentage of seniors who smoke cigarettes has been cut nearly in
half, from a high of 66 percent in 1998 to an all-time low of 34
percent. The trend was similar among sixth-graders. Just 7 percent
admit smoking, down from 17 percent in 1996.

While marijuana remains the most popular drug after alcohol, the
percentage of seniors using it continues to drop. Just 38 percent
said they smoked pot at least once in the past year, down from 48
percent in 2002.

Kulinski credits student leaders in Rock County's Youth to Youth
program with speaking to younger kids about tobacco's dangers. She
credits Partners in Prevention's messages telling parents that most
kids get alcohol out of home refrigerators. And she thinks kids are
getting the message about pot's dangers through three years of her
own Delta-9 curriculum.

Baldwin and Kulinski know much more work lies ahead.

Too many parents still set bad examples and provide alcohol for their
kids, Baldwin must repeat too often. More than half of
eighth-graders say alcohol is easy to get, and most still get it at
home. The new survey showed nearly half of sophomores and seniors
drank alcohol at home with their parents present. Nearly one-third of
seniors said their parents wouldn't be upset or would be only a
little upset if they drink.

Among the 760 or so seniors who just got diplomas from Craig and
Parker, nearly one-third are considered binge drinkers. About 290
drove drunk or after using other drugs at least once in the past
year. Nearly half of 10th-graders reported riding with drunken
drivers in the past year.

On Tuesday, when survey results were released, the district announced
it has received a federal grant of nearly $1 million to add staff for
a high school program to fight drugs and alcohol the next three
years. Project SUCCESS has a proven record, Kulinski said.

"Research shows kids need consistent messages, kindergarten through
12th grade, so that money will really help us focus in on the high
schools," she said.

Alcohol increases risks on the road. It reduces brain development in
youngsters. It is tied to violence, sexual promiscuity and poor
academics. Illegal drugs have similar effects.

But not every student uses alcohol or drugs. Don't bend to peer
pressure. Kulinski wants to send that message. So should parents.