Friday, May 5, 2000
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 7
Kansans say high marks aren't reality
Continued from page 1A
But other statistics don't paint the same picture. In the Kansas Kids Count survey, sponsored by Kansas Action for Children, a not-for-profit corporation, 30 percent of all youths in Finney County said they used alcohol in the last 30 days, falling below the state average of 35 percent.
But in the same survey, kids in Finney County reported that only 7 percent of them had ever tried drugs, lower than the 12 percent state average.
Ask University of Kansas students from Garden City, and they'll say drug and alcohol use isn't uncommon in their hometown, but it isn't remarkable either.
Nothing ever struck him as drastically different from other places, he said. "It struck me as typical activity." Lightner said.
Jess Lightner, Garden City junior, said he knew kids who did drugs, but he doesn't remember sixth graders sneaking cans of Coors Lite on the playground when he was in elementary school.
A 1999 study by Joseph Califano, president of the national Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, has sparked interest in the idea of rural kids at risk, local experts say.
Califano found that eight graders living in rural America were 70 percent more likely to have been drunk and 83 percent more likely to have used crack cocaine than their urban peers.
Experts in Kansas aren't ready to concede a similar pattern exists in the state. however
The statistics jump around from year to year, so it's hard to know if there is a significant count,"said Gary Brunk, executive director for Kansas Action for Children. "I'd be cautious about any trends. I'm not
Counties: Finney Wyandotte McPherson statewide
Percent of youth who have ever used drugs 11.7 24.9 4.5 11.6
Percent of youth who used alcohol in the past 30 days 31.4 40.0 38.5 34.9
Source: Kids Count Survey
Jason Williams/KANSA
"The statistics jump around from year to year, so it's hard to know if there is a significant count. I'd be cautious about any trends. I'm not sure."
Gary Brunk Kansas Action for Children
sure."
The rural areas highlighted in Califano's study don't necessarily describe places such as Garden City. In fact, the town may not be really "rural" anymore, except perhaps to researchers in New York like Califano.
Lightner said the face of the town had changed drastically in recent years. Between 1980 and 1990, the county's population increased by 10,000.
John Calbeck, director of the Southwest Regional Prevention Center in Garden City, said towns such as Garden City were susceptible to drugs for several reasons.
Methamphetamines have gotten a rap as a rural drug, he said, and Califano's study also targets the use of the drug.
"It's a drug that's easily made in your basement," Calbeck said, "Stuff you can buy at your corner store. And they aren't generated in
urban areas. An old silo is not unusual."
Location also makes towns like Garden City susceptible.
"Garden City and Western Kansas are bisected by Highway 54, 83 and 283," Calbeck said. "There are several different intersections coming from Mexico."
A cultural crossroads is springing up in rural Kansas. Industries like Iowa Beef Processors, Inc. and Monfort, Inc., which produce beef products in Garden City, have increased the population of the town that also is becoming more diverse.
The diversity of the population is beginning to look more like a large city than small town Kansas. Whites are not an overwhelming majority in Garden City anymore — they make up only 68 percent of the town's population. The largest minority group is Hispanics, who now make up 28 percent of the population.
Jessica Ortiz, Garden City junior, said the diverse community was becoming more apparent, especially at elementary and junior high schools.
But Lightner said the increasing diversity played into stereotypes and perceptions about which ethnic groups used drugs.
Despite the findings of Califano's study, counties in Kansas that still fit a typical rural profile show drastically lower numbers. McPherson and Russell counties in central Kansas fall below 5 percent drug usage in comparison to the 11 percent state average and miles away
from Califano's 70 percent.
Thirteen percent of Barton County kids in sixth, eighth, 10th and 12th grade report having tried drugs, but Barton County is home to Great Bend. Although the town's population has decreased in recent decades and doesn't have the same diversity as Garden City, it still has about 27,000 residents. For many Kansans, this is anything but a small town.
Despite growth and diversity in Garden City, students say there still isn't a whole lot to do. Boredom can lead to drug and alcohol use, some students say.
Melissa Wilson, Garden City junior, said there was little to do besides hanging out with a close group of friends from school at places like Hastings Books, Music & Video, their local entertainment store.
"I think sometimes boredom can carry over to doing what big brother or big sis is doing." Wilson said.
Ortiz added students used drugs while cruising up and down Main Street, normally a seemingly innocent activity.
Even if drug use in rural and semirural areas like Garden City is being exaggerated, there's still an effort to curb Finney County teens from getting high and drunk.
Calbeck said Finney County had assessed all of the teen drug use numbers and was working with local law enforcement to create prevention programs. He said results for all counties were available to communities so that they could use them to start their own programs.
Information on most Kansas counties from the Kansas Kids Count survey is available at www.kac.org.
"I'd probably say there's an increased awareness out there." Calbeck said. "I wouldn't take this to mean small towns are bad places to live."
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