Schools

County Survey Sets Sights on Student Drinking

With summer in full swing, report shines light on binge drinking in Tamalpais Union high schools.

As the school year came to a close last month, Tamalpais High Principal Tom Drescher shot off an email to parents, congratulating their children on a good year and wishing them a relaxing summer.

But the bulk of Drescher's email was a request. On the heels of a Marin County study that suggested up to 35 percent of Tamalpais Union High School District students indulge in "binge drinking," Drescher asked parents to talk to their children about alcohol and drug use this summer.

"Take the close of school to have a very important and necessary discussion with your child," he wrote.

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Drescher was incited to do so by the results of a recent study in conjunction with the district's "Be the Influence" project, the results of which fall in line previous surveys by the California Safe and Healthy Kids program that suggested Marin County has some of the highest levels of binge drinking in the state, and the Tamalpais district has some of the highest levels in Marin County. Binge drinking is defined as consuming five or more alcoholic drinks within a two-hour period.

"Students in the Tamalpais district engage in binge drinking at an alarming rate or report using marijuana frequently," Drescher wrote, citing the survey.

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Drescher listed a number of ways for parents to address the subject, including getting to know their children's friends and their parents, to make it clear that under-age drinking and drinking and driving are illegal and to discuss ways to refuse a drink. He also wrote, "If there is problem with drinking in your family, be sure your son or daughter is aware that s/he is at risk for developing a problem, too."

Leslie Wachtel, president of the Tam High Parent-Teacher-Student Association, said she was not surprised by the results.

"I don't think Tam is any different than any other district," she said. "Maybe our kids are more forthright in filling out these surveys. From my personal experience with my fourth child at Tam, I see everybody doing the same thing."

"That said, it is alarming because we try to do so much alcohol and drug education and it seems like it's not getting through," she continued.

Some question the study's methodology. Tamalpais Union High School District Board President Bob Walter said some of the questions on the survey were based on assumptions and not facts, and the survey itself lacked scientific controls, sample groups or horizontal tracking.

It also did not adequately address "a societal issue that is so complex and irrational," Walter said. The district administers its own surveys without relying on a third party to conduct and evaluate them, he added.

Past study results prompted the state Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs to award the county a $1.125 million grant in 2007 to fund the district's "Be the Influence" campaign, whose members have pledged to reduce the district's binge drinking levels by 30 percent by 2012.

Students from the district's five high schools – 1080 9th graders and 884 11th graders – volunteered to complete the latest self assessment conducted by the county Department of Health and Human Services' division of alcohol, drug and tobacco programs during the 2009-2010 year. Approximately 60 percent of 9th graders and 40 percent of 11th graders at Tamalpais High School participated in the district-wide self assessment.

With their parents' permission, students answered the survey questions online, said Grier Mathews, spokeswoman for the county. The survey's 10 questions covered hazardous alcohol use, dependence symptoms and harmful alcohol use.

The latest survey indicates that 16 percent of ninth-graders and 49.2 percent of 11th-graders have reported consuming five or more alcoholic drinks on at least one occasion. It also suggests that 1.2 percent of students overall reported using alcohol at rates that meet the criteria for alcohol dependence.

"We don't practice healthy alcohol usage in America," Walter said. "A lot of kids here drink to get drunk."

The survey did yield some positive signs as well, as 47 percent of respondents said they do not use alcohol. According to a report submitted to the district board last month, alcohol usage, although prevalent among district high school students, dropped 11 percent among freshman district wide, with an eight percent drop at Tamalpais High.

On the flip side, a coordinated effort by county and school officials and counselors has resulted in a "huge jump" in the amount of students who voluntarily seek help for their drinking problems, according to Mathews.

"I urge you to have that very important discussion with your student," Drescher wrote. "We want to welcome everyone back in the fall."


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