Drugs, Alcohol Causing Home Problems, Say District 197 Students In Minnesota Student Survey

The most alarming numbers reported by the 2010 Minnesota Student Survey are results about alcohol and drug use by family members, rather than use by students, said Ann Lindberg, chemical health coordinator at Henry Sibley High School.

The survey is conducted every three years among students in Minnesota public schools in grades six, nine and 12. The survey asks students a series of questions about activities, experiences and behaviors. Topics covered included tobacco, alcohol and drug use, school climate, physical activity, violence and safety, connections with school and family, health and other topics.

Nineteen percent of District 197 ninth-graders and 16.5 percent of 12th-graders surveyed said alcohol use by family members had repeatedly caused family, health, job or legal problems.

About 16 percent of the district's ninth-grade students and 11.5 percent of 12th-graders surveyed said drug use by a family member had repeatedly cause family, health, job or legal problems. Both sets of results were higher than those reported by Dakota County or Minnesota students surveyed.

“As a chemical counselor I look at that,” said Lindberg. “When the students are saying that family issues at home are affecting them enough to answer 'yes' to a questionnaire in school, that’s what I look at as a counselor."

“The thing with alcohol and drug families is they don’t usually admit to it being a problem,” Lindbergh added. “So that’s why I find it significant, the fact that they’re willing to talk about it, or even admit it.”

In the area of physical and sexual violence, 15 percent of the district's sixth-grade girls responded that, “Someone in their household has hit them so hard that they received marks or were afraid.” That number compares to 12 percent of students in both Dakota County and students in all of Minnesota who said they had experienced similar violence or fear.

Twenty-three percent of district ninth-graders surveyed said they had used marijuana or hashish on one or more occasions during the last 12 months. That compared to 16 percent of ninth-grade students statewide and 13.9 percent of Dakota County ninth-graders.

Conversely, the numbers of district 12th-graders (26.5 percent) who said they had used marijuana or hashish was lower than county (34.3 percent) or state (34.5 percent) averages.

The use of prescription pain medications such as OxyContin, Percocet, Percodan and Vicodin, while not widespread among students, is on the rise. Five percent of district 12th-graders and 4.5 percent of ninth-graders reported they had used such drugs to get high on one or more occasions during the last 12 months.

“That we’ve seen statewide has increased,” said Lindberg. “Our numbers weren’t that high but it was one for us to start taking a look at.”

There were some positive results reported in the survey as well. Some 91.5 percent of sixth- and 12th-graders and 94.5 percent of ninth-graders said they feel safe at school.

District 197 students in grades nine and 12 said they are significantly less likely to ride in a vehicle when the driver has been drinking.

Students in the district perceive their schools as having less of a problem with alcohol, tobacco and drug use than county and state levels. Nearly 50 percent of 12th-grade students surveyed in the district said alcohol or drugs are a problem at their school. Those numbers were lower than county (62 percent) and state (57.5 percent) figures.

Other trend data showed:

• Tobacco use has increased slightly among district ninth-grade students. About 9.5 percent of district ninth-graders and 19.5 percent of 12th-grade students said they had smoked cigarettes during the last 30 days.
• Alcohol use among 12th-grade students has decreased, however, district levels are higher than county and state levels. Of district 12th-graders, 88 percent said they had had an alcoholic drink on one or more occasions in the previous 12 months. That compared to 81.5 percent for Dakota County and 78.5 percent of the students in the state.
• Ten percent of district ninth-graders and 18 percent of 12th-graders said they had had five or more drinks in a row one or more times over the past two years.

The survey percentages appear to match district reporting numbers of underage violations, Lindberg said.

Abundance of chemicals available has decreased the overall consumption of the two primary drugs of choice, alcohol and marijuana.

Programming to address chemical use within the district has shown a decrease in overall levels of usage. District 197 has a program called Life Skills which provides alcohol and drug use prevention education in the fourth, fifth and sixth grades.

“I think the biggest thing is just continuing to provide the education and provide them a place to talk,” said Lindberg.

County-Wide Statistics Differ Slightly

The findings for drug and alcohol use among Dakota County students were mostly the same as three years ago, with one notable exception. More Dakota County high school senior boys said they had used marijuana or one or more occasions during the last 12 months than the same group reported three years ago. In 2007 about 24 percent of Dakota County 12th-grade boys said they had used marijuana on one or more occasions in the last 12 months. That number jumped to 30 percent in this year’s survey.

The numbers in most of the categories of drug or alcohol use among Dakota County students either stayed about the same or declined.

“The good news is majority of young people in Dakota County are thriving and doing well and moving toward their goals in life,” said Shannon Bailey, Dakota County adolescent health coordinator. “Most kids are doing well. In Minnesota trended data between 1992 and 2010, those risk behaviors of drugs and alcohol peaked in early 1990s and has steadily gone down since then. This generation is a relatively healthy bunch of kids.”

“The two areas of most concern are marijuana use among 12th-graders and also risky sexual behaviors,” Bailey said.

More information on the 2010 Minnesota Student Survey is available at the Minnesota Department of Education web site: http://education.state.mn.us.