By Tom Jordan
Survey says 73% of seniors get "bombed"
According to the results of a Pride Questionnaire taken by village students in grades four through twelve, an alarming number of them are experimenting with cigarettes, alcohol and other drugs.
The study, arranged by the Rockville Centre Drug and Alcohol Task Force, was based on the responses of 574 fourth and fifth graders and 1,314 students in grades six through twelve to questions regarding the availability, use and effects of illicit substances. Rockville Centre youths consistently claimed to have come into contact with drugs at a percentage higher than the national average.
Some of the figures, said Eileen Kamhi, president of the task force, were of particular concern.
"Some things leapt off the page. For instance, alcohol use is the biggest issue," said Ms. Kamhi. "Primarily on weekends."
Seventy-three percent of Rockville Centre twelfth graders said they drank beer within the last year, and 63 percent said they drank on weekends. More than half, about 55 percent, said they got "very high or bombed" when they drank beer.
In fact, more than 60 percent of all high school-age kids surveyed said they'd consumed alcohol in the past year. Perhaps the reason for that lies in the fact that approximately 80 percent of the ninth graders polled said that it was either "fairly easy" or "very easy" to get beer.
The younger kids are also drinking; almost ten percent of all fifth graders surveyed said they'd tried beer.
In addition, 45 percent of twelfth graders have smoked marijuana in the last year, and 12 percent have used cocaine or crack. Another 17 percent admitted to using hallucinogens.
Better than 60 percent of all twelfth graders, and 40 percent of ninth graders, have smoked cigarettes in the past year.
Though the findings proved to be cause for concern, several members of the community said they are not surprised.
"We know our kids are using alcohol," said South Side High School principal Carol Burris. "We're doing everything we can to change that, and we need your help."
Some questioned the validity of the survey, in part because it offers no "margin for error' statistics, saying some students wouldn't have taken the survey seriously, and because of the nature of some of the questions. Ms. Kamhi cited the "extreme behaviors" findings, which suggested that 2.3 percent of fourth graders carry a gun.
"We need to address these results and take them seriously," Ms. Kamhi said. "But we need to also take them with a grain of salt."
Tom Ricupero, principal of South Side Middle School agreed. "I really caution people as to how to interpret this information," he said. "There's some ambiguity, and I'd be very careful in how I would use this information.
Mr. Ricupero believes the solutions start at home. "It's simple awareness," he said. "I firmly believe that we, as parents, have to take care of our homes before we take care of the community. We need to monitor our own backyards."
