NEW PROGRAMS AIM TO EDUCATE STUDENTS ABOUT DRUGS

LAKELAND -- Nearly half of Polk County high school students say they
consume alcohol at least once a month, and one in four are binge drinkers,
which means they ingest five or more drinks at a time, a state survey found.

While startling, those numbers are in line with state and national statistics.

But a growing concern in Polk is the number of middle school students who
say they drink and use drugs.

Now, many school districts across the nation, including Polk's, have
introduced a new breed of prevention programs that federal studies show
help 12- and 13-year-olds stand up to peer pressure.

It's no longer enough to teach children to "just say no," said Angie
Ellison, executive director of the Drug Prevention Resource Center in Lakeland.

Thirteen percent of middle-schoolers binge drink, compared to 8.8 percent
statewide. In high school, the percentage is 24.5 percent in Polk and 23.3
percent statewide. Polk's middle school population also exceeds the state
average for use of cigarettes, marijuana and all other drugs.

This has given rise to a new generation of school-based drug prevention
strategies grounded in solid research and funded by state and private grants.

Old methods, such as DARE, introduced in elementary grades by law
enforcement agencies, rely heavily on a "just say no" message and have
proven ineffective, according to the U.S. Surgeon General and the National
Academy of Sciences.

"Most kids by fifth grade have had a DARE program -- they know drugs are
bad for you," she said. The new generation of prevention programs teach
"how to say no," through role-playing, skits and group discussion.

"You're building a peer group among the students," Ellison said, "so the
peer pressure is stronger in saying no."

One of the better programs on the market is Project Alert, according to
Ellison and Skip Forsyth, director of Florida Youth Initiative, a
cooperative of public and private agencies attempting to reduce underage
drinking and drug use.

Since September, Project Alert has been taught to students at McKeel
Academy of Applied Technology and the Lake Alfred Career Center with state
dollars funneled through Ellison's agency.

She recently received a $50,000 state grant to expand Project Alert to
other public and private schools in Polk.

Polk's poor showing on a 2000 student drug survey has enhanced its chances
for receiving these and other state and federal funds, Forsyth said.

One of the survey's more troubling findings was that parents of Polk's
middle school students seem to be more tolerant of alcohol, tobacco and
other drugs than parents in other parts of the state, Forsyth said.

At McKeel Academy, a Lakeland magnet school, sixth-graders give up their
regular health class one day a week to build skills social scientists say
will help them resist the temptations of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.

The 12-week course, called Project Alert, "has been proven to reduce
alcohol and marijuana use in seventh grade," said Ed Boos, who oversees
drug prevention for the Polk County School District.

One day last week, 20 McKeel sixth-graders responded to Project Alert
instructor Karen Burrows' inquiry: What happens when people drink alcohol?
A sampling of the rapid-fire responses: "You lose judgment...You can get in
an accident...You can wake up with a hangover...I think every time you
drink it kills like five brain cells."

Later, the class broke into groups of five, playing a game based on
Pictionary, where a lead student quick-sketches clues to phrases like
"Alcohol can be poisonous," and "Drinking and driving don't mix."

Classmates Ben Tan, 11, and Desiree Smith, 12, say after only four of the
weekly sessions, they've resolved never to take up drinking.

"I didn't know it damaged your liver," Desiree said.

"Smoking can turn your lungs dark," said Ben, adding that what he likes
best about the class is a chance to chat with students who might otherwise
remain distant.

The curriculum aims at total abstinence, said Burrows, who works for the
Drug Prevention Resource Center.

"By the time they turn 21, they'll be able to put that in perspective," she
said. "They need to know there is a way to be happy without alcohol,
tobacco and drugs."

While the survey results are still being analyzed to provide answers as to
why Polk did so poorly on the survey, Forsyth said programs like Project
Alert are key to meeting a state goal of cutting underage drug use in half
by 2005.

The Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey polled 65,000 children in grades 6
to 12 in all but three of the state's 67 counties. (Okaloosa and Okeechobee
counties abstained, and Lafayette lost its surveys in the mail, state drug
officials said.) Locally, about 2,300 students, chosen at random, at 12
schools took the survey.

Survey data, undergoing more rigorous analysis at the University of Miami,
show that binge drinking among Polk and Florida students is slightly lower
than the national average of 31 percent.

State drug prevention officials admit they're baffled by some of the
findings in the 2000 survey, which rated each county on a scale of one to
five, with five being the highest rate of drug use. Polk scored 3.4, while
neighboring Hardee got a 1.6. Even Miami-Dade, a county perceived to have a
much bigger drug problem than Polk, received a score of 1. Others receiving
low scores include Broward, 1.6; Orange, 1.8; and Osceola, 1.

The survey also found that black students have a much lower rate of drug
use than whites and Hispanics, said Hal Johnson, a University of Miami
statistician under contract to the state.

For instance, whites make up 36.4 percent of the state's underage drinkers,
while blacks make up 18.4 percent and Hispanics 34.7 percent.

"I don't know the reason," Johnson said, "but it's consistent with national
studies."

Florida has made some progress in the war on drugs: Since 1995, youth
cocaine use has dropped 66 percent, and marijuana use is down 38 percent,
according to the state Office of Drug Control.