Motley Crue's "Smokin' in the Boys Room" would have made an apt anthem at most Wisconsin high schools in the early 1990s.
Today, not so much.
The state Department of Public Instruction last week released findings from its 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which measures - among other things - students' drug and alcohol use and sexual activity.
"Fewer students are using tobacco and underage alcohol use, while still too high, is on a downward trend," the DPI said last week in a news release announcing findings from the survey, which is done every other year. The 2011 survey - a 99-item questionnaire - included responses from 3,043 high school students at 58 public schools.
Back in 1993, when the department started doing the surveys, about one-third of high school students reported they had used tobacco in the previous 30 days, and about 14 percent had used tobacco in school. By 2011, only 15 percent of high school kids reported using tobacco, and only 4 percent were using it at school.
Nearly half of high school students surveyed in 1993 said they drank alcohol in the previous 30 days, a figure that crept down to 39 percent last year. Figures for binge drinking have also have declined, though the DPI noted the state's binge drinking rate is higher than most other states.
Marijuana use, however, has increased since 1993, when about 23 percent of students reported ever puffing the magic dragon. That figure climbed to 37 percent last year.
Drug deals at school have remained stable: About one in five students reported - both in 1993 and in 2011 - receiving drug offers at school.
Sex? No thanks
The report also noted a drop in students' sexual activity.
Fifty-eight percent of students surveyed last year reported they'd never had sex, up from 53 percent who reported being abstinent in 1993.
Numbers from 2011 are lower than they were in the early '00s, though, when some years' surveys showed more than 60 percent of students were abstinent.
The DPI noted "the majority of students refrain from sexual activity. Those who report they are sexually active are waiting longer before first sexual intercourse and are using condoms to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease.
"However," the department noted, "16 percent of female students and 5 percent of males reported being forced, either verbally or physically, to take part in a sexual activity."
Suicide still an issue
An alarmingly high number of high school students - 27 percent - reported they had considered committing suicide in 1993. By last year, that figure had dropped to 14 percent.
But the DPI noted Wisconsin "consistently exceeds the national average" when it comes to teenagers considering or committing suicide.
"Navigating the teen years can be exceptionally difficult," Tony Evers, the state superintendent, said in the DPI's news release. "We have resources for schools to support our kids, but the rate of attempted suicide among teens is very troubling. We must continue efforts to create a safe school environment where kids are free from bullying and feel they belong."
About 44 percent of survey respondents last year said bullying was a problem at their school, the DPI said. That's up slightly from 2009, when about 42 percent of kids said it was an issue.
MADISON, WIS.
