Students are making a clear choice in regards to alcohol use and the support of parents and community members is important, about 60 persons were told Monday night, April 14, in Syracuse.

“Don’t underestimate your own power as a parent,” Amanda Davis of People United For Families (PUFF) said at a town hall meeting on underage drinking at the First National Bank & Trust basement.

The session included audience participation. Those who attended were asked a sampling of questions which faced sixth, eighth, 10th and 12th graders in the Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca, Palmyra and Nebraska City Public Schools.

Attendance included youth, parents, adults, school board members, and government, legal and medical officials.

Survey results from 2007 were presented by Andrew Vogt, Nate Stilmock, Brynne Berner and Hillarie Damme of S-D-A Public Schools. The 2007 survey was the third conducted. Previous surveys were conducted in 2003 and 2005.

The average age of a teen’s first alcohol consumption is 13, while 50.7 percent had never drank alcoholic beverages; 32 percent of 10th graders reported using alcohol within the past 30 days of the survey while 65 percent reported never drinking; 65 percent of 10th graders that reported ever using alcohol obtained it from someone age 21 or older; 28 percent of 12th graders reported binge drinking, five or more drinks consecutively over two hours in the two weeks before the survey; 48 percent of 12th graders reported being a passenger with a drinking driver in the past year; 3 percent of 12th graders reported using methamphetamines in their lifetimes; 15 percent of eighth graders reported smoking cigarettes in the 30 days before the survey; 13 was the average age of a teen’s first use of marijuana while 86.3 percent had never used marijuana; 1.3 percent reported ever using steroids and 1.4 percent reported ever using cocaine.

In the 30 days before the survey, there was a huge jump between elementary and high school alcohol users, said Tim Regler, director, Parents and Communities Together (PACT) of Otoe County. Regler said that also for the first time, girls were drinking more frequently than boys.

Regler said that all youth are not drinking alcohol. Most youth are not drinking, he said. Of 12th graders, 20 percent said that they had never used alcohol and 51 percent overall of the students surveyed said that they had never used alcohol.

Jerry Stilmock moderated the panel discussion. Panelists were: Chief Deputy Mike Holland of the Otoe County Sheriff’s Department; Dr. Zak Templemeyer of the Syracuse Medical Center; Otoe County Juvenile Court Judge John Steinheider; Otoe County Attorney David Partsch; Tim Isaacs, S-D-A schools guidance counselor and coach; Jill Noerrlinger, pharmacist; Michelle Zahn, S-D-A parent; Sarah Wellman, S-D-A senior; and Pastor Paul Coen of Luther Memorial Church, Syracuse.