MARICOPA
COUNTY – An alarming number of students attending high
school in Maricopa County use alcohol and drugs, according
to the 2006 Arizona Youth Survey.
“No
one, I feel, can be immune,” said Gina Durbin, director
of student support services for Cave Creek Unified School
District. “Parents need to be educated on what kids do.
If not their children, it could be their friends. It takes
a community to be up on this.”
In
June, CCUSD’s governing board will hear a presentation
on random alcohol and drug testing.
Recent
arrests of five students at Cactus Shadows High School
for sale of prescription drugs could influence board members
to consider adopting a random testing program at the high
school. Any such program would affect only students taking
part in extracurricular sports through a participation
contract.
The
most recent Arizona Youth Survey, polling 11,079 students
in Maricopa County, reveals 31 percent of 10th‑grade
students have used marijuana, compared to 10.8 percent
who have used inhalants. Forty‑one percent of 12th‑grade
students have used marijuana, while 14.3 percent of 10th
graders reported using marijuana in the preceding 30 days.
And 15.8 percent of 10th graders have used prescription
drugs for non‑medical reasons.
The
statistics cited in the survey, required by the No Child
Left Behind Act, are a compilation of all student responses
countywide. CCUSD‑specific statistics have not been
tallied. The information came from students anonymously
self‑reporting in a classroom setting. Statistics
specific to Deer Valley Unified School District or comment
from district administration were not available at press
time.
Of
10th grade students, 64.7 percent have consumed alcohol
and 20.3 percent reported binge drinking, while 18.6 percent
admitted being drunk or high at school. The survey also
reveals 8.6 percent sold illegal drugs in 2006, down from
2002 in which 10.3 percent of the students so reported.
Additionally,
39.8 percent of 10th graders have smoked cigar‑ettes,
while about 15.2 percent reported smoking in the last
30 days.
About
7.9 percent of 10th‑grade students have been arrested,
according to the 2006 survey.
“These
are conservative numbers, because it does not count the
number of students who have dropped out of school,” said
Mary Marshall, spokeswoman for the Arizona Criminal Justice
Commission which administers the survey. “A third‑party
vendor (Bach‑Harrison, Salt Lake City, Utah) which
conducts the survey are the rock stars in their field.”
Marshall
related that the survey has ways of weeding out students
who are lying. For example, students are asked if they
use drugs that in fact do not exist.
The
survey reveals 7.1 percent of 10th‑grade students
reported carrying a handgun in 2006, up from 4.5 percent
in 2002. And 15.1 percent reported having been attacked
or harmed, up from about 10.2 percent in 2002.
Although
CCUSD does not have statistics specific to the district,
Durbin says she has requested that information for next
year.
Last
fall, the board asked Durbin to report on random drug
testing programs across the country for informational
purposes. Recently, the district presented her report
to parents in the Cactus Shadows High School Booster Club,
Parent Teachers Organization, the district’s Site Council,
and the Men’s Club for CSHS.
“Most
parents were supportive of random drug testing,” said
Durbin. “We did have people who
thought it violated their children’s rights.”
Some
parents questioned why drug monitoring is directed toward
student athletes. According to a U.S. Supreme Court decision,
random drug testing is legal only for students who sign
contracts to participate in student athletics.
Typically,
the screening tests for alcohol, barbiturates, cocaine,
stimulants, methamphetamines, and opiates. For an additional
$35 per test, the school could screen for Soma or steroids.
Random
drug testing in schools does not usually involve a law
enforcement component, Durbin noted.
