STUDENT DRUG USE IS DOWN

Administrators 'Cautiously Optimistic' About The Trend

Administrators from the Bowling Green and Warren County School
districts remain "cautiously optimistic" about student alcohol and
drug usage. For the most part, the percentage of middle and high
school students using drugs and alcohol annually are below the
national average. The percentage has also steadily declined over the
years.

Still, seniors posted the highest percentage among the grade levels,
which concerns school administrators, said Meg Crittenden, director of
elementary programs and public relations for Bowling Green Independent
school district.

Middle and high school students participated in the PRIDE drug survey
last fall. The districts presented the results at a press conference
Thursday in Bowling Green Independent's central office on Center
Street. Except for cocaine and hallucinogens, in which the percentage
dips slightly between seventh and eighth grades, students found
getting drugs and alcohol easier as they progress to grade 12, the
report said.

Calling the progression a "stair step" to availability, Rachel Petett,
student assistant specialist for Warren County Schools, attributed the
gradual increase to several factors: bigger social circles, increased
autonomy, independence and mobility and changing friends, she said.

Nearly 41 percent of the districts' seniors are smoking marijuana -
that rate exceeded the national average by 1.6 percent. Seniors also
exceed the national average in the use of downers. It was 10.6
percent, which was 0.8 percent higher than the average of their
counterparts nationally.

With 11.3 percent of the county's seniors taking hallucinogens, the
percentage equals the national average, according to the report.

The percentage of seniors drinking alcohol is 52.6 for beer and 54.8
for liquor, both slightly higher than the national average.

At 5.2 percent, the 11th grade is slightly above the national average
in student use of inhalants.

Most of the drug and alcohol use occurs after school and at night,
peaking during the weekend when "students are unsupervised and have
unstructured free time," Petett said.

Cigarette smoking, when compared to last year's stats, have
progressively decreased both annually and monthly in all grades.

"We're very pleased with the stats," Crittenden said. "We attribute
the decrease in the use to the various programs that both districts
have implemented."

Both Bowling Green School Superintendent John Settle and Warren County
School Superintendent Dale Brown both said they are disappointed with
the information concerning seniors, but it doesn't surprise them.

"There's something about this class that you'll find higher percentage
of drug use," Settle said. "You'll find a predisposition (to drugs) in
this group. But it's a small percentage of the senior class. I think
it's less than 6 percent."

Since beginning the drug and alcohol surveys seven years ago, both
school districts have implemented numerous drug prevention and
educational programs, which have resulted in a declining percentage of
student uses, Brown and Settle said.

But they admit that the biggest deterrent involves lifestyle changes,
they said.

"A lot of this is a lifestyle issue because it allows for weekend
use," Settle said.

But most of the causes are out of the schools' control, Settle
added.

The report agreed.

It concluded that students are less likely to get involved in drugs
and alcohol if they participate in community and school activities,
make good grades, rarely get into trouble and have parents who
establish clear rules and consequences associated with drug and
alcohol usage.

Both school districts will continue to do their part in helping more
students stop relying on drugs and alcohol, Brown and Settle said.

The Bowling Green Board of Education just completed a new strategic
plan that will include drug and alcohol prevention, although it wasn't
based on the survey's data, Settle said.

"We plan to put greater efforts toward mentoring, increasing parental
involvement and outreach programs," Settle said.

Likewise, the Warren County Board of Education is "cautiously
modifying the plan to meet the needs of the students," Brown said.