PORT TOWNSEND — A study of student perceptions found that a smaller percentage of Port Townsend sophomores think adults feel marijuana use and binge drinking is wrong than their counterparts statewide.
But they think more adults disapprove of tobacco use than students reported statewide.
Along with the perception of less adult disapproval of marijuana and drinking, reported use of marijuana and binge drinking was higher among Port Townsend High School 10th-grade students than the statewide average, said Olympic Educational Service District Student Services Center Coordinator Anne Burns last week.
Student perceptions
“A lot of kids think that a high percentage of local adults don’t really disapprove of drinking or taking drugs,” Burns told a group of administrators, teachers and parents in the high school library on Thursday.
Burns declined to state how many students completed the survey and said that it measured only students perceptions, which can be mistaken.
For instance, she said, students can mistakenly think that a majority of other kids are using drugs, and so go along with it.
“A lot of kids aren’t using drugs, so we need to find a way to reinforce that good behavior,” Burns said.
“The idea that everyone is using creates its own peer pressure, even though the perception is flawed.”
Responses to survey
Compiled responses to a Healthy Youth Survey taken in 2008 concluded that Port Townsend sophomores thought that 35 percent of adults in the community believe marijuana use by youth is very wrong, compared with 79.1 percent statewide.
The study also concluded that Port Townsend 10th-graders feel that 20 percent of adults believe youth drinking to be very wrong, compared with 35.2 percent statewide.
In the survey, 22 percent of the 10th-graders who responded also said they had indulged in binge drinking over the previous year or smoked marijuana in the preceding 30 days.
Statewide, 18 percent told of indulging in binge drinking during the previous year, while 19.1 percent reported smoking marijuana in the preceding 30 days.
“The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines binge drinking as a pattern of drinking that brings a person’s blood alcohol concentration to 0.08 grams percent or above,” the Centers for Disease Control said on its website, www.cdc.gov.
“This typically happens when men consume five or more drinks, and when women consume four or more drinks, in about 2 hours.”
When it came to tobacco use, students felt more frowned upon.
Responses showed a perception that 55 percent of adults disapproved of smoking, compared with a perception that 43.8 percent of adults look down upon tobacco use statewide.
Prevailing attitudes
Some of those attending last week’s meeting felt that the survey reflected prevailing community attitudes about drugs.
“Drug use is socially acceptable here,” said parent Jaimi Westermann.
Bill LeMaster, a parent on the School Site Committee, said he had heard of “skittle parties” — in which students take random pills from their parents’ medicine cabinets and put them in a party bowl to eat — and urged parents to keep tight control on their prescribed drugs.
Drug Court Administrator Ford Kessler said the student drug problem does not begin or end in the schools.
“The whole community should hold anyone accountable if they serve alcohol to minors,” he said.
Grant-funded position
The higher level of marijuana and alcohol use reported in the survey allowed the school district to obtain a grant to fund a student assistance program position, filled by Barbara Hansen, who moderated the meeting.
The grant provided funding for the position for three years, beginning last year.
“We need to find more permanent solutions for this,” said high school Principal Carrie Ehrhardt.
“We don’t know what will get funded from one year to the next.”
A task force was proposed to look into the topic in more depth.
Anyone interested in participating in the proposed task force or being involved in further discussions can contact Hansen at 360-344-3030, ext. 3030, or e-mail bhansen@ptsd.co.org.
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Jefferson County reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
