More Students Abstain from Alcohol, Feel More Connected

Fewer Trumbull students are drinking and more feel connected, among other positive trends, according to the results of a survey released at Monday night's Board of Education Meeting.

The results come from a survey taken by the "Trumbull Partnership Against Underage Drinking."

"The trends are moving in the right direction," said TPAUD grant coordinator Melissa McGarry.

Caryn Campbell, Chair of the district's underage drinking initiative and the Psychology and Social Work Department in the school district, said Monday the TPAUD's funding  comes from a three-year grant from the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services in 2006 to combat underage drinking.

In addition to conducting a student survey in 2007 and again in 2010, the board formed TPAUD from its own members, school staff, town leaders, Region Youth/Adult Social Action Partnership(RYASAP), law enforcement and philanthropic organizations.

The organization aims to uncover the reasons kids drink and come up with solutions, survey and collect data, partner with law enforcement and perform outreach activities in the community through meetings and social marketing.

According to the 2010 study of students between seventh and 12th grade, reviewed last spring, the news is not all bad, with some areas still requiring attention, McGarry said.

It showed that they feel connected to the school community and are closer to their parents. In addition, it demonstrated an increase in students who have never drank in all grades from the 2007 survey and a significant decrease in students binge drinking at all grade levels.

Still, the best solution is not to start drinking. Sixty-three percent of students who drank said they started at age 14 or younger.

"One of the biggest challenges of the coalition is to get kids to delay the age of onset," she said. "We are hearing from middle school kids that we are not starting early enough."

The survey also showed that 11 percent of students bought alcohol for themselves in town, while 50 percent said they got alcohol from an older sibling or friend.

'Two-thirds of all the students surveyed said they got alcohol from their home or a friend, and [it] is easy to get," she said.

TPAUD has also worked with the police on availability of alcohol and is pursuing compliance checks of liquor stores in town. Two sessions for liquor servers and sellers, featuring a fake id expert and state liquor control officials, have taken place.

 "It not about changing kids, although we certainly want to educate them. But the grant is about changing the environment," she said.

McGarry also said the study shows there is a large disconnect with parents and their children regarding alcohol usage.

 According to the survey, 97 percent of 1100 parents who responded said drinking is unacceptable, yet it also showed 40 percent of students believed their parents felt it was acceptable.

"We hope to have parents understand the risks and give them the tools to talk to their children," she said.

A forum for ninth grade students and their parents was held Tuesday night at Trumbull High School. Students had to attend in order to receive credit in their health classes. Those absent had to write a paper on underage drinking in the community to fulfill the requirement.

Board Chairman Edward Lovely lauded the work of TPAUD following the presentation, calling it a real benefit to students and the community.

"I wish there were more we can do to reduce the terrible problem," he said. "Hopefully these efforts can reduce the underage drinking in the community."