Survey shows drop in alcohol use, rise in bullying at local schools

Violence and substance abuse are down among Califoia students, but more have experienced harassment and bullying, according to a new health survey.

Compared with its 2011-13 report, the Califoia Healthy Kids Survey found that among more than 36,000 students in middle and high school, the percentage of students involved in a fight dropped by four to five points, with fighting among 11th-grade students dropping from 17 percent to 11 percent.

The Califoia Department of Education and the Califoia Department of Health Care Services coordinated the report, which takes a random sample of seventh, ninth and 11th grade students, and addresses school safety, substance use, mental health and other issues.

The survey has been taken every two years since 1985, and the current results were released last week.

Highlights include a drop in alcohol and marijuana use, including a four-point drop in alcohol use, binge drinking and marijuana use among 11th-graders. As well, fewer students in all grades reported seeing someone carrying a weapon on school property.

At the same time, the survey found reports of being harassed or bullied at school remained stable in seventh grade at 40 percent and increased by about three points in 9th and 11th grades to 38 percent and 31 percent respectively.

Area educators have developed numerous policies and programs to combat drug and alcohol abuse, and curb bullying and harassment.

In the Long Beach Unified School District, the seventh-grade health curriculum stresses personal growth and development with studies that include the dangers of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, in addition to the issues of personal and community health.

Similar themes will be added this year to high school biology and life science courses, said district Spokesman Chris Eftychiou.

“We address health and safety education, including the prevention of substance abuse and bullying, in a number of ways,” he said.

Programs on LBUSD school sites include anonymous reporting of bullying, through email, and information given through public service aouncements, brochures and inteet-based resources.

Eftychiou said LBUSD didn’t participate in the Califoia Healthy Kids Survey, but the district is collecting its own data on “school climate” indicators, such as drug and alcohol use, school safety and other issues.

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“The survey was administered last school year, and the results will be available this fall, and we’ll use the results to make informed decisions about programs and expenditures of resources,” Eftychiou said.

He said the statewide information will be considered in conjunction with LBUSD data.

The district partners with several organizations to reduce bullying and violence. Among them is the Long Beach-based Califoia Conference For Equality and Justice. The nonprofit group facilitates programs in which students lea about racism and various forms of bigotry, as well as conflict resolution and leadership skills.

“We are focused on helping people feel safe emotionally and physically in their environments,” Executive Director Wende Nichols-Julien said. “We focus really on how people treat each other, regardless of their identity.”

Nichols-Julien said her organization also touts “restorative justice,” which helps school administrators and teachers focus on a more positive disciplinary process and find alteatives to punishment, such as suspension and expulsion, through mediation aimed at preventing further conflict.

“It’s a high accountability model,” Nichols-Julien said. “It’s not about fewer consequences. It’s about facing what happened and addressing the harm directly, and making sure it’s as right as possible, and focusing on the classroom. Just ignoring the issue or refraining from having consequences when others are trying to lea is not a good idea.”