Survey reveals that kids face contemporary problems here

By Lori Porter Acorn Staff Writer

At a recent Oak Park Unified School District Board of Education meeting, Millie Andress, principal of Oak View High School reported on some startling results taken from the 2002-03 California Healthy Kids Survey.

The state Department of Education implemented this survey in 1998 to give educators a general overview of how students compare in drug and alcohol use, school violence, nutrition, physical activity and sexual behavior.

The survey also addressed self-image problems, sexual harassment and even rape.

The department of education requires all California schools to conduct the survey at least every other year. It includes data taken from students in grades five through 11.

Andress decided to make the survey a school project because she said, "I see and hear more than I want to see and hear."

Oak View, a continuation high school, has an average enrollment of about 45 to 50 kids per year. Forty-seven are currently enrolled there and this makes for an environment similar to a small community high school. Everyone knows and hears about their peers, including Andress and her staff.

"My passion is dealing with ‘at risk’ students with behavioral issues," said Andress. That priority, coupled with the survey results, gives Andress motivation, she said, to keep working with her students.

Though school violence isn’t an issue in Oak Park, Andress said that every school—including those in Agoura and Oak Park areas—has a substance abuse problem.

According to the survey, 4 percent of seventh graders frequently drink alcohol compared to 32 percent of 11th graders. The survey also reveals that 0 percent of seventh graders frequently smoke marijuana compared to 25 percent of 11th graders.

One of the possible reasons the percentage of seventh graders is so low is because 95 percent of seventh graders said they perceive marijuana use as extremely harmful compared to 79 percent of ninth graders and 73 percent of 11th graders. Twenty-two percent of 11th graders have been offered drugs on school property in the past 12 months and 74 percent believe they’re easy to obtain.

Andress said depression is one of the biggest problems with students here. "There is a lot of pressure to succeed in an area as affluent as ours," said Andress. Depression isn’t only a precursor to drug and alcohol use, it’s also a symptom of their use. The survey also revealed that 16 percent of seventh graders and 39 percent of 11th graders have seriously considered suicide.

A parent’s denial of a child’s depression and/or drug problem is an obstacle to seeking and getting help, Andress said. "If your child’s grades are going down, they sleep too much and are very moody, chances are they are using." All parents, she said, should look for signs of alcohol or drug abuse.

Has she seen a difference since she started working with kids? Andress answered, "Yes, but they are individual differences, not group differences."

She then grabbed a little starfish that sits on her desk and told a story. "An old man and a young boy were walking on a beach that was covered with starfish. The old man repeatedly picked one up and threw it back into the sea. The boy asked him why he kept throwing them back in the sea and the old man replied, ‘It will die out here but it will live in the water.’ The boy said that there were so many, what does it matter? The old man replied, ‘To this one, it matters."’

That’s how Andress approaches the drug problem. To each student, she said, it matters.

She warned parents to be aware of the problem and look for symptoms—to take their heads, she said, out of the sand.