By Lori Carlson, Correspondent 

Results of a student survey show both good and bad news when it comes to the behaviors of local boys and girls, the Prior Lake Savage Area School Board heard Monday.

Since 2004, when the district last surveyed students, there was a 50-percent drop in the number of ninth-graders who reported being offered, sold or given an illegal drug on school grounds.

Overall, fewer students reported using drugs and alcohol, said Sheri Boyer-Jacobs, student services coordinator.

Boyer-Jacobs reported seeing positive results in some areas. A majority of students reported feeling safe at school, and more than 80 percent of students reported feeling that their parents care about them “very much.” Sixth-graders in Prior Lake reported participating in bullying behavior less than the state average.

The results seem to suggest that school prevention programs work, Boyer-Jacobs said.

But there are some disturbing trends, she said. Illegal substance use among the district’s 12th-grade boys is higher than the state and national averages. Seventy percent of seniors reported using alcohol and/or drugs over the 30 days previous to the survey, “yet we are not seeing referrals to the counseling office by staff or peers,” Boyer-Jacobs wrote in her summary of the report.

The survey data shows that in many cases, parents provide alcohol to minors.

“This is the reality of what we are dealing with on a daily basis,” Boyer-Jacobs told board members. Her report states that young people today are “plagued by excessive fatigue and are depressed, distracted and enabled more than any other era and even more than Generation X-ers can fathom.

“They participate in fewer activities or hobbies, youth groups and outreach projects, read little, work less and are computer-consumed,” according to the report.

Depression and anger reported by ninth-grade girls in the district also exceeds state averages. In addition, the number of girls in ninth and 12th grades who reported being forced to have sex doubled from 2004 to 2007.

Because the district has seen a trend in depression among young girls in recent years, it started support groups just for girls at the middle and high schools, said Ann Collins, a student support specialist at Prior Lake High School. The groups include “Choices/Voices,” in which girls get together to share their feelings and ask questions, and “Girls in Real-life Situations,” a group of seventh-grade girls who talk about anger, communication, healthy eating, stress, self-esteem and decision making.

The survey is given every three years to students in grades six, nine and 12. It asks questions about tobacco, alcohol and other drug use and attitudes, as well as sexual behaviors, dietary behaviors, physical activity and unintentional injuries and violence.

The survey is voluntary, confidential and anonymous on the part of students. Eighty-six percent of the district’s sixth-, ninth- and 12th-graders took the most recent survey, compared to 72 percent statewide.

The district’s Chemical Health Department is working to put the entire survey online at www.priorlake-savage.k12.mn.us. Look for the “services” tab and go to “special services” and then “chemical health.”

Lori Carlson can be reached at (952) 345-6378 or editor@plamerican.com.