The 2005-06 California Healthy Kids Survey Reports (CHKS) Key Findings show some interesting results for Amador County kids. The Amador County Unified School District administered the Elementary School California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) in Spring 2005 in two age brackets. The survey was administered to Elementary students, 5th grade and secondary students at the  7th ,9th, and 11th  levels. The CHKS is a comprehensive youth health-risk and resilience data collection service, sponsored by the California Department of Education (CDE).This report summarizes the results for key indicators of behaviors that either create risk or well-being in the lives of our young people.

For local fifth graders the survey was administered in the spring of 2005 to 167 students, or 49 percent of the fifth grade student population. This number of students surveyed is lower than the 2003 student population when 355 5th graders were surveyed.

Tobacco Use among fifth graders has risen in the last two years with 8 percent reporting that they have used cigarettes in 2005- this is up from 2 percent in 2003. Drug use among fifth graders is still a rare event in the county with only 1 percent of fifth grade students saying that they have ever used marijuana. That number was zero in 2003.

The percentage of students that feel very safe at school has declined from 56% of fifth graders in 2003 to 48% percent of fifth graders in 2005. The percentage of students that report high levels of caring relationships with a teacher or other adult at their school has remained constant with 61% of students reporting good relations in 2003 and 60% in 2005.

At the higher grade levels, including 7th,9th and 11th grade levels, the number of kids reporting use of tobacco, alcohol and drugs increases. The Percent of Students Who Used Alcohol at Least Once in Their Life at the 7th grade level is 29 percent, 54 percent of 9th graders and 72 percent of 11th graders. The number of students that have tried inhalants drops dramatically with 9 percent of 7th graders, 12 percent of 9th graders and 8 percent of 11th graders.

As for marijuana experimentation and usage at least once in a lifetime  7th graders report 15 percent usage rate, 9th graders a 28 percent usage rate and 40 percent at the 11th grade level. When asked about the usage of alcohol and marijuana in the last 30 days 45 percent of 11th graders reported alcohol consumption, 33 percent of 9th graders and 15 percent of 7th graders also using alcohol in the short time period. As for marijuana 9 percent of 7th grade, 16 percent of 9th graders and 22 percent of 11th graders reported smoking marijuana within 30 days of the survey.

The survey also asked kids about drinking and driving patterns including being driven by a person that had been drinking. Driving under the influence is one of the main causes of traffic accidents and death among youth. To gauge the overall risk to students from drinking and driving, high school students were asked how often they had ever driven after drinking or been driven by a friend under the influence. 28% of 9th graders and 29% of 11th graders indicated they had either driven a car after drinking or been a passenger in a car driven by a friend who had been drinking. 51% of 7th graders reported riding in a car with a driver who had been drinking. At the middle school level, these drivers are mainly parents and guardians.

When kids were asked about the dangers of alcohol, drugs and tobacco over 90 percent of all students felt alcohol and tobacco use is a danger to people. 98 percent of 9th and 11th graders say cigarettes are harmful. Over 90 percent of all three age groups think alcohol is harmful but the dangers of marijuana usage scored much lower with 87 percent of 7th and 9th graders and 82 percent of 11th graders saying that marijuana is harmful.

The older kids also felt less safe at school and 40 percent of 7th grader report they have been harassed. Around 15 percent of all three age groups state that they have carried a knife or a club to school, with fighting declining as the students age. 7th graders report that 36 percent have been in a fight and 19 percent of 11th graders. District-wide results revealed that 12% of 7th graders, 12% of 9th graders, and 8% of 11th graders have belonged to a gang at some point.

According to ACUSD Prevention Coordinator and the principal of Pine Grove Elementary Tom Reed ACUSD has had these results for quite some time.  The district does have a D.A.T.E. committee (Drug, Alcohol, Tobacco Education) that meets monthly to decide how to spend federal and state money that has been granted to the district for the purpose of addressing Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities (SDFSC) and Tobacco prevention and intervention. The California Healthy Kids Survey results (CHKS) are the springboard for discussions and decision-making for the committee. Last year the district adopted a program called Too Good for Drugs in kindergarten through sixth grades. The seventh grade students are taught the Life Skills curriculum. Also, the district is currently working on a grant to address tobacco use reduction in our high schools.

Overall, Reed states “While we are doing a pretty good job of getting out the message that the use of cigarettes, alcohol or marijuana is “very bad” for a person’s health, we recognize a need to effect a change of behavior in our youngest students about use of alcohol and tobacco.” Reed adds “Inhalants use is a close third place on the list of items of concern from the fifth grade responses. Another area of concern is bullying and our elementary students’ sense of safety at school.” Reed reports that not as much money has been allocated for this area, so the district is continuing to research ways to address these problems. Reed states that the overall picture for secondary students shows an incremental increase in alcohol experimentation, with a lesser increase in marijuana experimentation. 

As with the younger students, Reed comments that the secondary students indicate that they have the knowledge that cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana are harmful if used, but too many of them indicate that they ignore that knowledge and participate in unhealthy behaviors anyway. Overall, Reed states that the secondary students’ perception of their safety at school is much higher than those who responded to the fifth grade questions. The last big area that the district has been addressing is “external assets.”  Students who have caring relationships with teachers or other adults, and those students who are held to high expectations by teachers or other adults tend to be able to resist the attraction of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.  The district has been addressing that issue district-wide and at individual school sites through various character education emphases.