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.
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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
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