TEENS WISE UP BUT STILL TAKE RISKS

Survey Finds Less Smoking, Better Use of Seat Belts

Wisconsin's high school students are smoking less than they did eight
years ago. They're wearing car seat belts and bike helmets more. And
of those who have sex, almost eight in 10 use birth control.

That's according to the Wisconsin Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a
biennial report whose 2005 results were released last week by the
state's Department of Public Instruction.

Experts say the findings show teens have absorbed basic lessons from
health class and public service announcements - wear seat belts,
don't smoke - but they also point to underlying data showing students
still experiment, often dangerously.

Fewer students reported smoking marijuana in the past 30 days, but
overall use of the drug remained steady the past eight years. Fewer
students are smoking cigarettes, but alcohol use and binge drinking
rates are nearly unchanged.

And while nearly three-quarters of students surveyed use a seat belt,
up from just more than half of students in 1997, almost a third
reported recently riding in a car with a driver who'd been drinking.

"The information is out there, and it's being heard and being used on
issues like smoking and condom use," said Jeanne Erickson, a
childhood brain development specialist at the Wisconsin Council on
Children and Families. "But we have to get more information out there."

Still, not all students think the lessons are getting through. Rita
Kreuser, a senior at Bradford High School in Kenosha, said she's seen
a spike in drug and alcohol use, including cigarettes, among many
teens.

"I'm really against pot and the harder drugs," she said. "But
drinking is big here."

That's particularly troubling to some experts.

The survey found that 60% of high school seniors think everyone their
age considers it OK to have five drinks in a row, which it defines as
binge drinking. But only 4% of those students thought such behavior
wouldn't harm them.

"Adolescents really think they're invincible," Erickson said. "They
have a different understanding of how things might affect them, and
that could be part of what those percentages are showing."

She said many "classic" teen behaviors, including risk-taking and
impulsivity, are rooted in science. Teen brains still are developing
in their prefrontal cortex, the area that regulates such behavior.
That can lead to a predisposition toward risky decisions, she said.

Others point to parents and role models as partial culprits for teen
drinking. The University of Wisconsin-Madison's reputation as a
"party school" and high-profile parties where parents supplied
alcohol for teens, can encourage such behavior, said Shea Halula,
executive director of the Ozaukee Council, an anti-drug program for
teens.

"A lot of times, kids learn from their parents," Halula
said.

Drug use - particularly the type of drugs used - also varied by
grade. Freshman were almost twice as likely as seniors to use
inhalants. But seniors were far more likely to have tried club drugs,
including Ecstasy, as well as cocaine and marijuana.

Kreuser said she sees younger teens experiment with a variety of
drugs but believes seniors often tire of experimentation and simply
favor alcohol. It's usually cheaper, easier to get, and can be
combined with foods such as Jell-O that make it "more fun," she said.

Though she's had friends injured in drunken-driving accidents,
Kreuser said she doesn't think most teens have a personal connection
to the results of their actions.

"They need to realize what the consequences are of what they do," she
said. "It takes a lot of maturity to stand up and say 'I don't want
to do this.' "