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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 28, 2000)
June 28, 2000 Purtiauò <f)h, (Clje ^ìortlatiò (Obseruer Health/Education Youth and w eapons: a potential for injury and death for T he Page A3 P or i land O bserver Results o f a new survey o f O regon high school students suggest that at least 8 percent, o r 13,000 youth, carried som e sort o f w eapon to school at least once during the 1998-1999 school year, according to public h e a lth o f f ic ia ls a t th e s ta te D epartm ent o f H um an Services. T h e s u rv e y r e s p o n s e s a lso led o ffic ia ls to e s tim a te th a t 1,300 students carried a gun to school. These finding contained in a newly released repors are from the DHS H ealth Division. “A Potential for V iolent Injury: Guns and K nives in the S chools” is based on a 1999 youth risk survey conducted b y the H ealth D ivision. The report docum ents how com m on the carrying ofw eapons, including guns, is among youth. “Carrying a gun, knife or club is a part o f life for a surprising num ber o f youth,” says M el K ohn, M D, deputy state epidem iologist at the H ealth D iv is io n . “ F o r m a n y o f th e s e students, it only one o f several risky influences in their lives.” A m ong the findings: G un carrying is strongly associated w ith m any o f risky behaviors and in f lu e n c e s , in c lu d in g fig h tin g , s u b s ta n c e a b u s e , p h y s ic a l an d s e x u a l a b u s e b y a d u lts a n d harassm ent at school. O f students w hose conditions and circum stances included 10 or m ore risk factors, 11.4 percent said they carried a gun to school com pared w ith 0.2 percent o f students who had none. Students w ithout an adult to go to w ere alm ost tw ice as likely to take w eapons to school as w ere those w ith two or m ore supportive adults (12.8 versus 6.7 percent). Students w ho had been purposely hit, slapped, or physically hurt by an ad u lt’s fam ily m em ber were tw ice as likely to take a w eapon to school as students who had not been abused (14.3 percent versus 7.1 percent). S tu d e n ts w ho e x p e r ie n c e d harassm ent due to race, gender and sexual orientation w ere 36 times more likely to carry a gun at school (14.3 percent versus 0.4 percent). Students who abused five or m ore substances w ere 39 tim es m ore likely than non-abuser to carry a gun at s c h o o l (7 .8 p e r c e n t v e rsu s 0.2 percent). Students w ho said they were involved in six or more fights at school w ere 86 tim es m ore likely to have a gun at school (25.7 percent versus 0.3 per cent.) “A lthough the data do not tell us w hy these students carry w eapons, they suggest there are factors w ithin the family, school, and com m unity that are associated w ith youths carrying w eapons. It is crucial for families, com m u n ity m em b ers and school officials to understand w hat these f a c to rs a re , in th e in te r e s t o f p rev e n tin g in ju ries an d d e a th s,” K ohn says. T he 1999 sta te L eg islatu re took ac tio n , w h ich w ill h e lp p ro te c t c h ild re n . SB 344 e s ta b lis h e s a s tr o n g e r c o lla b o r a tio n a m o n g schools, courts and law enforcem ent to help assure safety in schools. It requires school officials to contact law enforcem ent officials any time they believe a firearm is brought into a school, or if they becom e aw are o f a threat o f harm. " B ecau se guns, m o re th an any w eapon, are m ore likely to kill, we must reduce their availability to youth, " say s D an N o e lle , M u ltnom ah C ounty Sheriff. “W hen w eapons are present and em otions are high, what m ight otherw ise have been a moment o f sadness, an argum ent, o r fistfight m ay lead to serious injury or even d eath .” Time to institute your Summer creativity through PCC CONTRIBUTED STORY Sum m er is the tim e o f year when M other N atu re’s creative forces come into full bloom. So, isn’t it time you get out and m old your own spare tim e into a creative endeavor th ro u g h P o rtla n d C o m m u n ity C o lleg e’s Sum m er A rt Institute 2000? T here are 14 different credit classes that will be offered through the institute fees as low as $4 and no higher than $ 12. All classes will be held at P C C ’s Sylvania C am pus, located at 12000 SW 49th A venue. E ven through som e o f the in stitu te’s classes begin M onday, June 19, it is not too late to register. A ll o f the courses offered by the PCC Sum m er Art Institute span the reaches o f the creative imagination. C heck out A -Z Comic Book Creation, a class th a t g u id e s s tu d e n ts th r o u g h c h a r a c te r d e sig n , sto ry te llin g , d raw in g te ch n iq u e s, p u b lish in g , p r o m o tio n a n d d e v e lo p e d by C om edy Central, teaches the class from 2-5:20 p.m. on Tuesdays and T hursday beginning Tuesday, June 20. D o n ’t forget the course Native A m e ric a n P la te a u B a sk ets and C u ltu r e , a h a n d s -o n b a s k e try w orkshop focusing on plateau tribes o f Eastern O regon and W ashington. Pat C ourtney G old, who is a m em ber o f C onfederated Tribes o f W arm Springs teaches the class from noon to 4 :5 0 p .m . M o n d a y s th ro u g h Thursday starting M onday, July 10. O ther classes includes Basic Design, Introduction to D raw ing, D raw ing Ceramics I, Sculpture: W e ld in g , B ru sh C a llig ra p h y , A lte rn a tiv e P h o to g ra p h ic P rocesses, Painting E n cau stic, P in h o le P h o to g rap h y , B ro n ze C a s tin g W o rk sh o p , I ta lic Calligraphy W orkshop and N ative American Art. Formore information on any o f these PCC Sum m er Art Instituteclasses, call 503-977-4279. Abstinence-until-marriage programs added CONTRIBITED STORY O regon’s abstinence program , Students Today A ren’t Ready for Sex (STA RS), has provided abstinence education to 104,555 O regon youth in 32 o f O regon ’ s 36 counties since 1995. Beginning this fall, three additional abstinence program s will be available to Oregon com m unities w ith funding from the Oregon D epartm ent o f H um an Services (DHS). A bstinence education is one o f six strategies in O reg o n ’s A dolescent Pregnancy Prevention A ction A genda 2000. The new program s w ill give local com m unities the opportunity to extend abstinence education program s to unserved youth. The new program s M anaging Pressures B efore M arriage. C ontractor is G rady H ealth System s o f Georgia. This program will be available statewide. M anaging Pressures Before M arriage can either be adult-led o r teen-led. The program has curriculum for two age groups: youth in 7th and 8th grade (ages 12-14) and youth in 5 th grade and 6th grade (ages 10-12). A lso available is a com plem entary teen leader training program and program s for parents o f each targeted age group. Stop and Think. C ontractor is Lane Pregnancy S upportC enterofE ugene. This program will be available in Lane C ounty, Salem, A lbany, Coos Bay/N orth Bend and Roseburg. It encourages kids to stop and think about w hat their behavior will be before they act on it, to get kids to think critically when confronted with risky situations. C urriculum is taught by trained presenters w ho are adults. Stop and T hink is m ost appropriate for eighth- through 12th- graders. Youth Solutions A bstinence Education Program . C ontractor is N W Fam ily Services o f Portland. It is available statewide. This program uses the FACTS m iddle school and high school curricula and Prom ises peer-led dram a presentation. It also includes a peer leader com ponent with high school students teaching m iddle school students w hy it’s best to wait to have sex. Parent and fam ily education is also available. All program s are provided in E nglish and Spanish. O reg o n ’s current program : STA RS STA RS is an abstinence teen pregnancy prevention program aimed at sixth- and seventh-graders, taught by teen leaders w ho deliver the message, “It’s best for teens not to have sex.” As a skill-based program , STARS gives kids practice in how to say "no.” The program s w ill be coordinated to avoid redundancy w here these program s are already in place. M arketing the program s DHS w ill distribute inform ation about these program s to schools, health departm ents and local teen pregnancy prevention coalitions. The contractors will m arket their program s to local com m unities and be paid after training has been provided. E stablishing the new program s The 1999 Legislature directed DHS to identify and develop additional programs that m et the federal criteria for abstinence education. Program s that em phasize teaching abstinence from sexual activity until m arriage w ere sought. The new contractors successfully com pleted a request-for-proposal process that included an evaluation o f their curriculum m aterials (e.g., videos, lesson plans and handouts), how w ell it addressed the federal abstinence criteria, the effectiveness ofthe educational strategy, and whether the information presented in the proposal was scientifically and factually accurate. DHS m ade the final decisions, based on the recom m endations o f an evaluation panel. Funds are available to support these services through June 30,2001. Abstinence education is one part o f com prehensive sexuality education. O regon’s A dolescent Pregnancy Prevention A ction A genda 2000 is available online or by calling the DHS A dult and Fam ily Services D ivision at (503) 945-5600. Sboelacee need careful bando to guide them. The jame ie true o f children. I Y o u have m ore to teach kid s th a n y o u m ig h t im agine. Take the Time is a ca m p aig n to help y o u n g people succeed. A n d lh a t takes some h elp fro m a du lts. W e 've o u tlin e d 40 assets tha t h e lp y o u n g people becom e successful, and w e can suggest wavs lo r T A K E T H E T IM E y o u to g et in v o lv e d . Be the d iffe re n c e . Please ca ll us at 5 0 3 -9 8 8 -3 8 9 7 o r v is it o u r w e b s ite at t a k e t h e t im e . o r g to learn m ore. B E T H E D IF F E R E N C E I I