Student Survey Sorts Out Risky Behavior for Parents

Most students in Niles Township High School District 219 are not smoking, drinking alcohol or using marijuana.

But most of them think most of their friends are.

Those are among the results of a districtwide survey discussed at "Raising Teens: A Risky Business," a Tuesday night meeting for parents. It was sponsored by the Niles Township Youth Coalition at Niles North High School in Skokie.

Todd Putnam, who coordinates the Student Assistance Program at Niles North, said it is important for teenagers to understand that when it comes to engaging in risky behavior, everybody really isn’t doing it.

“If students think their friends are participating in certain unhealthy choices, they are more likely to make those same choices,” Putnam said.

Data from a social norms survey, administered by the district during school hours to 3,654 students who responded anonymously, showed:

• While students think 78 percent of their peers smoke, 14 percent actually do.
•  Students think 85 percent of their peers drink alcohol, while 27 percent do.
• They suspect 74 percent of their peers use marijuana, while 17 percent do.

Other survey questions found that 25 percent of students are sexually active, 76 percent had not been in a fight in the last year and 17 percent had been the victim of some kind of bullying in the last year.

Perhaps most encouraging to the audience of educators and parents was that, when it comes to drugs and alcohol, 61 percent of students believe what teachers tell them and 65 percent believe their parents.

Putnam said the survey results will be used as a marketing campaign to persuade students that it’s really normal not to take risks with drugs and alcohol or engage in other risky behaviors. The information will be distributed in a variety of ways, including the “Stall Street Journal,” fliers hung on the back of bathroom stall doors.

“Here’s the bottom line,” Putnam said. “Our students are making healthy choices.”

Greg Barker, the Northern Illinois University researcher who works with District 219, contends such campaigns can reduce the perception of negative behaviors by 3-5 percent, said Putnam. District 219 has seen those changes over the last four years, he added.

However, the number of students making unhealthy choices has stayed steady.

After his presentation, audience members had the opportunity to ask questions of a panel that included Deputy Police Chief Tony Scarpelli and Detective John Long, both of the Skokie Police Department; Sarah Migas, a staff member of the Internet Safety Office in the Illinois Attorney General’s Office; Mary Rose, a representative from Metropolitan Family Services; and Putnam.

For the most part, parents passed notecards with questions to Kaine Osburn, principal of Niles West, and Pete Marcelo, assistant superintendent of special education and student services for District 219.

The parents wanted to know what to do if they suspect their child is using drugs, how the police department handles curfew violations, what happened when a student is caught with drugs and what the schools do about bullying.

Osburn answered the latter question, saying the most difficult part was persuading students to come forward to report being victimized by bullies. When they do, school officials deal with the situation immediately and continue to follow up as long as necessary, he said.

“It’s not something where the student has been disciplined and we walk away,” Osburn said. “We monitor the students and follow up. The discipline is not the most important thing--it’s the follow up.”

For more information on the Niles Township Youth Coalition, visit nilestownshipyouth.org. The website will list the full survey results within the next few weeks.