A recent survey of high school pupils from around the county asked teenagers to identify some of the reasons why underage drinking is happening in the area and the problems that result from the illegal activity.

Indian Lake High School junior Chelsey Hoyles reads a posting from the school’s “brick reality wall” where students anonymously posted how they have witnessed alcohol or drug abuse negatively affect someone’s life. The question posed at the top of the display is answered at the bottom with: “These ILHS students know the truth about alcohol and drugs ... do you?” The project was created by Brittany Foglesong, Project SUCCESS specialist, who provides alcohol, drug, tobacco and other drug prevention programs to students at the school through funding from Mental Health, Drug and Alcohol Services Board of Logan and Champaign Counties. PHOTO | INDIAN LAKE SCHOOLS

Top factors contributing to underage drinking*: Riverside High School — Peer pressure to drink, adults provide alcohol to kids, poor role modeling by adults, “kids will be kids” attitude by adults, parental or adult indifference/tolerance of underage drinking. Ohio Hi-Point Career Center — Peer pressure, adults provide alcohol to kids, “kids will be kids” attitude, poor role modeling by adults, and parental or adult indifference/tolerance (tie, both received 31.5 percent of vote). Indian Lake High School — Parental or adult indifference/tolerance, peer pressure, adults provide alcohol to kids, easy availability of alcohol, “kids will be kids” attitude. Benjamin Logan High School — Poor role modeling by adults, lack of alternatives for kids, code of silence among youth, peer pressure, and adults provide alcohol to kids. Bellefontaine High School — Peer pressure, easy availability of alcohol, poor role modeling by adults, parental or adult indifference/tolerance, “kids will be kids” attitude. Community survey of adults — Peer pressure, parental or adult indifference/tolerance, greater acceptance of alcohol use than other drugs, poor role modeling by adults, and easy availability of alcohol. * Survey respondents chose their top three concerns out of a list of 22 possible contributing factors.

Top problems resulting from underage drinking*: RHS — Teen drinking parties, drinking and driving, pregnancy/STDs, underage drinking access, and assaults (fights, acquaintance rape, etc.). OHPCC — Vehicle crashes, drinking and driving, assaults and teen drinking parties (tie, both received 44.1 percent of vote), and pregnancy/STDs. ILHS — Teen drinking parties, drinking and driving, pregnancy/STDs, vehicle crashes, and assaults. BLHS — Drinking and driving, teen drinking parties, and vehicle crashes. BHS — Teen drinking parties, drinking and driving, vehicle crashes, assaults and pregnancy/STDs. Community survey of adults — Teen drinking parties, drinking and driving, assaults, vehicle crashes and domestic violence. * Survey respondents chose their top three concerns out of a list of 18 possible problems.

High schoolers at varying grade levels were asked to choose the top three factors that contribute to underage drinking, along with the top three problems that underage drinking causes in the area. An identical “community alcohol personality survey” also was completed by 64 adults in the community, including parents, school staff members, health care professionals, government agency employees, etc.

The study found that peer pressure to drink alcohol, along with an attitude of indifference and poor role modeling by adults are some of the top factors that area teens link to underage drinking. Other top survey results included a “kids will be kids” attitude adopted by adults, easy availability of alcohol, greater acceptance of alcohol use than other drugs, and adults or older friends providing alcohol to teens.

Coalition board members and BHS students Sarah Ewing and Brittany Younkman said these results confirmed their expectations.

“I expected most of the results,” said Sarah, who also attends OHPCC. “To see that peer pressure is influencing kids isn’t surprising.

“As far as adults being poor role models, I don’t personally know any adults who are poor role models, but I know that they are out there.”

In the next section, survey respondents were presented with 18 possible problems that could result from underage drinking, and they chose teen drinking parties, drinking and driving, and vehicle crashes as some of their greatest concerns. Participants also named pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases; assault, including fights and acquaintance rape; domestic violence and family problems as some of the other issues that could result from this illegal activity.

The assessment also looked at student opinions on prevalence of alcohol and related materials in local advertising and at community and schoolrelated events. Overall, the majority of students and parents agreed that both the location of alcohol advertising and alcohol outlets are monitored “moderately well.”

A majority of respondents thought that alcohol is “occasionally served” at community events, as opposed to “at most events,” “never at events” or “unsure.”

In addition, a large majority of participants said alcohol is mentioned as a contributor in media coverage of accidents, assaults, domestic violence, etc.

The youth advisory council, made up of students at each of the schools surveyed, explored some of the issues brought up by the survey at a recent focus group meeting.

“As far as the accessibility of alcohol, the kids said their peers take it from a supply in the home,” said coalition executive committee chairwoman Angela Haver. “Usually it’s not something that’s hidden (because) it’s not illegal.”

“They also said that their legal adult friends will purchase alcohol for them, or outlets will sell to them.”

Following the study, youth advisory council also developed plans of action for addressing the top concerns. Some of the school groups pledged to conduct mock accidents, develop morning announcements about alcohol misconceptions, host a speaker on the topic of alcoholism or offer alternative weekend activities that are alcoholfree.

The council is also involved with the current Parents Who Host Lose the Most campaign to warn parents and older friends about the legal ramifications of providing alcohol to minors.

“One of the top survey results was parents providing alcohol,” said Dawn Wilbur, coalition action committee chairwoman. “We need to get out to parents and older friends the consequences of providing alcohol.”

Further analyzing these surveys will help the coalition better understand how to tackle the issue of underage drinking. Members are concerned about this problem because of the high number of students — 18 percent of eighth-graders and 39 percent of 11th-graders — who reported in a May 2008 Logan County Search Institute study that they had used alcohol in the past 30 days.

 “We’re trying to peel away more of the layers of the ‘onion’ to find out why this is happening to teens in Logan County,” Ms. Haver said.

“We want to find out the root cases, or risk factors. The more specific you can get with risk factors, the better strategy you can have.”