Survey: Teen Habits Elusive

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Fewer local kids are drinking, smoking cigarettes
or using pot than they were two years ago, and recent use of those
substances is below national averages - except for 12th-graders, whose
use of alcohol and marijuana is significantly above the norm.

And while younger kids and their parents are on pretty much the same
wavelength about staying away from illegal and dangerous substances,
parents who think they know what their high-schoolers are up to are
being hornswoggled.

Those, in so many words, are among the findings of recent surveys of
students in grades six through 12 and parents in the Saratoga Springs
school district.

Above-average drinking among older teens is a real concern. But the
positive news, as seen by the group that commissioned the surveys, is
that the message that drugs and alcohol are dangerous is getting
through to younger kids and their parents.

The group is the Saratoga Partnership for Prevention, and its focus
is, as its name implies, on prevention.

"It's a lot easier if a parent starts when a kid is in fourth or fifth
grade, saying 'I need to know who this friend is, who their parents
are.' It's harder to do when the kids are older, when you're scared,"
said Linda Hassenger, a mother of three and member of the partnership
since its inception three years ago. "There's a fine line between
making and enforcing rules and giving them the space they need."

The Partnership for Prevention comprises organizations and citizens
whose purpose is to foster a healthy and safe community that has
positive relationships with its young people. It has been funded by a
grant applied for by the school district and The Prevention Council,
its supervising agency. Its surveys of students and parents two years
ago were used as guides to develop programs.

The two years between those initial surveys and the follow-ups are not
long enough to draw unshakable conclusions about changes in attitudes
that may be inarguably attributable to partnership programs. However,
the findings were encouraging in a number of areas that suggest a
decreasing risk of drug and alcohol use. For instance, students have a
more positive attitude toward school than they did two years ago, more
in line with the national average.

The partnership's programs include one that helps elementary pupils
make the transition to middle school and another that helps strengthen
the relationship between middle-schoolers and their parents.

"It was fun. It brought our family even closer," said Linda Tallman,
who was one of more than 400 people, along with her husband, Dan, and
son, D.J., to participate in a seven-week Strengthening Families
class. "We had taken a step-parenting class probably 10 years ago.
When we discovered this program, we decided we could use a little booster."

The program is designed to help parents balance showing love and
setting limits, help youths handle peer pressure and help families
communicate with one another.

"It's hard to keep lines of communications open with teenagers,"
Tallman said. She learned that sometimes you just need to be able to
listen to their problems and worries. "They need to know you
understand their feelings, even though it's not something you can solve."

A recurring theme in the surveys is a communication gap between
parents and older teens, more pronounced than people might think.

"A lot of parents are very naive about their children doing anything.
'Oh, my child would never do anything like that.' They don't want to
see it. They look right past it," said Brittany Greiner, who graduates
on Wednesday.

The survey results point out the degree of naivete:

Almost 65 percent of parents said their high school student had never
used alcohol, but 72 percent of the students reported having had a
drink in the last 30 days.

Less than 1 percent of parents thought their students drank
frequently, but 48 percent of the students reported drinking on five
or more occasions in the previous month.

Almost 86 percent of parents thought they would know if their high
school kids drank, but only 31 percent of the students agreed.

More than 95 percent of parents thought they would know if their child
skipped school, but only 65 percent of students thought their parents
would know.

What's a parent to do?

"Try loosening up," said Greiner, who attended a leadership camp
through the Prevention Council and, with her parents, volunteered to
watch younger siblings of participants in the Strengthening Families
program. "Instead of just talking, they should listen. And they should
try giving their kids more freedom. If I tell my parents where I am
going and what I am doing, they let me, with a reasonable curfew."

Another graduating senior familiar with the surveys, Rachel
Rubenstein, was, like Greiner, not shocked by the results.

"The largest discrepancies were things like the clarity of rules in
the house, or parents telling their children they are proud of them,
or how serious the arguments that the family has are," Rubenstein
said. "It really gave me some idea of why students are making the
decisions they are making."

She says the partnership is on track with its focus on
middle-schoolers. "That's when they are testing their parents, acting
out, and when it is most important for the relationship and
communication to be clear and open," she said. Older kids are too set
in their views and relationships.

"The biggest complaint is that kids' parents are nags or aren't there
to listen to them," Rubenstein said. "Communications needs to be
ongoing. Have some set rules, but make sure there are rules for the
parents as well as the child."

The multi-pronged approach of the Partnership for Prevention has been
to:

Reach families while the children are young enough to be receptive to
parental guidance and positive influences.

Reduce the availability of drugs and alcohol. One approach has been to
train alcohol servers and sellers to identify and deal with underage
customers. More than 150 local alcohol servers and sellers have been
trained so far. Also, city police have stepped up their stings of
alcohol sellers, and the partnership has given positive recognition to
stores that don't get stung selling booze to minors.

Create a community in which people of all ages feel welcome. This
includes fostering an environment in which substance abuse and
underage drinking are not condoned.

The results of the surveys will be presented to the Saratoga Springs
school board at its meeting Thursday by Judy Ekman, executive director
of The Prevention Council.

"In 25 years of work providing prevention services, this initiative is
both the most and exciting and promising one in which I have been
involved," Ekman said of the partnership. "Why? Because many community
partners are working together to address a few defined needs and
goals, because youth and parents are acknowledging positive changes in
their family, community and individual lives."

The more than 15 members of the partnership include organizations
expected to do prevention, like the Prevention Council, and others
that have different roles in the community, including the school
district, the police department, the district attorney, businesses,
youth development groups and The Saratogian.

The members, Ekman said, "talk regularly about how to build a positive
community environment for youth and families."

And the talk has turned into action.

"There has been a fundamental change in the community and its
institutions. Law enforcement, merchants, school officials, non-profit
and government agencies approach youth with a prevention framework in
mind," Ekman said in a prepared statement.

"The latest surveys indicate that we are making progress in our
targeted areas."