Drug use down in one district, survey says

Andrew Edwards

Substance abuse in the Huntington Beach City School District is

declining, according to a survey of seventh-graders taken last

spring.

The California Healthy Kids Survey measured rates of drug, alcohol

and tobacco use. It also gathered information on campus safety and

whether students participated in healthful activities such as regular

exercise.

Answers from 627 district seventh-graders were included in the

confidential survey. Participation was voluntary and students needed

their parents’ permission to respond.

Some district officials described the survey results as

encouraging, but educators remain concerned about substance abuse

among students.

“Any significant use of alcohol, tobacco, drugs, all of these

things are unfortunate,” said Bill Wallace, a member of the

district’s board of trustees.

At a board meeting on Tuesday night, Wallace said he was alarmed

by figures showing that 13% of district seventh-graders had consumed

alcohol in the 20 days before they took the survey.

“In a certain sense, that’s almost shocking,” he said.

However, reported rates of alcohol use were down from two years

ago. In 2001, 15% of students answering the survey said they had

recently used alcohol.

The rate of seventh-graders who admitted to using alcohol at any

point in their lives was also down, from 28% in 2001 to 20% last

year. Reported tobacco use also fell, but by only one percentage

point, with 6% of seventh-graders having admitted to trying

cigarettes. The rate of marijuana use remained steady at 8%,

according to the survey.

The rate of students who admitted to using inhalants, commonly

known as “sniffing” or “huffing,” rose. In 2001, 7% of students

reported trying inhalants compared to 9% in 2003.

More students responding to the survey last spring reported

feeling safe on campus. In 2003, 91% of seventh-graders said they

thought their campus was safe, up from 87% two years ago.

Though official comparison data from schools across the state are

not yet available, district Assistant Supt. Lynn Bogart said she

believed substance abuse in the district is average for California.

“I really don’t know if that’s good or bad. None of us like to be

average in Huntington Beach,” she said.

Compared to other districts in Orange County, Bogart said she

thought her district’s students did well.

“We have larger percentages of students who resist high-risk

behavior,” she said.

The district plans to conduct the survey again this spring, and

intends to include fifth-graders to comply with mandates laid out by

federal No Child Left Behind legislation.

The results of the survey are a reminder that educators cannot

ignore dangers facing children in schools, board member Shirley Carey

said.

“All of us can’t put our heads in the sand,” she said.

* ANDREW EDWARDS covers education and crime. He can be reached at

(714) 965-7177, (949) 494-4321 or mike.swanson@latimes.com.