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State to survey student drug use

September 11, 2006

Karen Bouffard / The Detroit News

LIVONIA -- A comprehensive statewide survey set to kick off as a pilot program this year will allow Michigan school districts to know what their students are smoking, toking, drinking -- and doing in the back seat.

The study, the Michigan Profile for Healthy Youth, comes amid increased worry among parents. Overdose deaths from Birmingham to Livonia have parents seeking action from schools or setting up drug task forces.

"What the kids are doing is they're going to downtown Detroit, they're going elsewhere to get it," said Judee Taormina, whose daughter attends Stevenson High in Livonia. "Heroin is the drug of the moment."

The $2.15 million federally funded survey will allow each district to know the extent of drugs, smoking, alcohol, sex, bullying, eating habits and seat belt use among students. Parents could use the results to compare districts.

Michigan was one of 11 states selected in 2004 for the survey that was tested in 24 districts last year and will be launched as a pilot in another 40 this year, including Allen Park, L'Anse Creuse and Taylor. It becomes fully operational in the state's 500-plus districts by 2008.

Some wish the survey could have come sooner. An epidemic of heroin spiked with the powerful painkiller fentanyl killed 133 Metro Detroit users from September to July, including 17-year-old Groves High School junior Lauren Jolly of Bloomfield Township.

In Livonia, rumors are rampant after an apparent overdose death Aug. 13 of a 16-year-old junior at Stevenson. An autopsy hasn't confirmed the cause of death. It followed the drug death of a 17-year-old former student in April.

Taormina doubts usage is widespread but wants to start a committee to investigate.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found that heroin use among Michigan teens has remained steady at 4 percent since 1999. The study found use of alcohol and other drugs declined. In 2005, 38 percent of high school students had drunk in the past 30 days, down from 49 percent in 1999; while 37 percent had tried marijuana, down from 44 percent over the same period.

The studies may provide information coveted by parents, but they're controversial and dogged with questions of reliability, confidentiality and delicacy. Some wonder if anyone can expect seventh-, ninth- and 11th-graders to give straight answers about substance use or sex.

"I don't think they'll get kids to be honest, especially at school," said Lisa Johnson Hayes, a Dearborn Heights mother of four. "I could see kids lying about it and saying 'Oh no, not me.' I understand the purpose behind it, but can't Washington find something better to do with our money?"

New survey is free

The survey is gearing up just as Western Michigan University's 17-year Alcohol and Other Drug Survey came to a close in June.

As many as 160 districts once participated in the popular survey, including Northville, Taylor and Birmingham. But it cost money -- $2,200 for Northville last year. As Michigan's school funding crisis caused districts to increasingly count pennies, participation dwindled to fewer than 60 districts last school year.

"Our goal was to make the (new) survey free to schools," said Kyle Guerrant, supervisor of the state Department of Education's Coordinated School Health and Safety program. "Some districts struggled with being able to gather that data. It can eat up (some) of a district's budget."

The Michigan Profile for Healthy Youth survey requires supervised students to log onto a secure state Web site and anonymously provide intimate details of their lives. State officials insist they will know if students are lying and will spike obvious exaggerations.

The results will be analyzed by the staff at the Department of Education, which will send a report to the district. It's up to the district to decide how to release the data, if at all.

"It's not a surprise to anybody that kids will either answer untruthfully because of what they're doing, or they'll answer untruthfully out of a desire to appear cool," said Wendy Bice, who has kids ages 10, 12 and 14 in the Birmingham district.

"But I still think it's the best to provide good information to the families. As a parent, I want to know what's going on in my district and in my kids' schools."

Districts guard data

Even so, releasing the data could be sticky for some school officials. As with the Western Michigan study, districts that participate aren't obliged to make results public.

Lisa Fockler, public health educator for the Oakland County Health Division's Office of Substance Abuse Services, said some Oakland County districts declined to let parents know that they participated in the WMU survey.

Neither she nor WMU would name the districts.

"Some of the districts have been very forthcoming in sharing their information, and some have held it more closely," Fockler said.

"Some districts seem to think that if there's a problem, they're going to get blamed for it," Fockler said. "And there are districts that don't survey because they don't want to know."

Guerrant said parents who really want to know could request results through Michigan's Freedom of Information Act. The department hopes more districts will become willing to share their results. "It's a taboo we're trying to break down by letting the districts know it's not their fault, and it's up to the community to deal with it," Guerrant said.

The Northville district has participated in the WMU survey for 12 years and has always made the results available, Superintendent Leonard Rezmierski said.

"If you had your druthers, you want to talk about good MEAP scores and award-winning students," Rezmierski said. "But it's the true story of what we're all about and the problems our students face."
Birmingham mom Laurie Wallace said she craves insight into what her 10-year-old daughter will face as she enters the preteen years, which are rife with peer pressure and temptation.

"I need information on what drugs are prevalent today in Birmingham where they get it, how they get it, and how they use it," she said.

You can reach Karen Bouffard at (734) 462-2206 or kbouffard@detnews.com.