THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 20, 1996 TAG: 9606200405
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KIA MORGAN ALLEN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 110 lines
They've tossed their tassels and are marching to the beat of a new beginning.
Today's graduates are ready to leave the safe harbors of high school and home, to venture into the stormy seas of life.
They're ready because, according to them, the education they received was good-to-outstanding. They believe they will reach a higher standard of living than their parents, and many will go on to four-year institutions.
Those are just some of the responses from The Virginian-Pilot's fifth annual survey of high school seniors. The Pilot surveyed 777 students throughout Hampton Roads.
The 1996 graduates may be eager to leave high school behind, but they are not quite ready to bid Hampton Roads farewell. More than half of them plan to stay. They are registered to vote - 63 percent - and plan to use their voting power in the next election.
Even though they are optimistic, they have reason to be pessimists. They know students who carry guns to school. Some have experimented with drugs. But the information is plenty, and today's teens claim there is enough of it to keep them on the right path.
Eighty-three percent of students reported that they know enough about AIDS to protect themselves. Sixty-four percent believe they will reach a higher standard of living than their parents. And 59 percent plan to attend a four-year college or university, with 62 percent confident that their parents will foot the bill. Only 22 percent of seniors said they attend church services once a week. The remaining 78 percent reported going from a few times a year to never.
Here is what the seniors of Hampton Roads had to say.
Quality of education
Parental involvement makes a difference. At least that is what Brad Gallant, a senior at Catholic High School in Virginia Beach, said. He, along with 51 percent of seniors, said his parents were very involved in his education.
``They made sure I got everything I needed,'' he said. ``They supported me and weren't overbearing. They did everything to make it easier and enjoyable for me.''
Race relations
From the time many youths encounter their first sandbox brawl, parents urge their kids to ``get along.'' But today's teens know it's not that easy to get along in a world where race remains a factor. Forty percent of Hampton Roads students said that race relations are unchanged, 37 percent said they have improved, and 21 percent said they have worsened.
``I think race relations have worsened because people don't want to talk about it anymore. People want to think it's a perfect world we live in, la-la land. People forget it exists,'' said Steven Claiborne, a senior at Lake Taylor High School in Norfolk.
Drugs and alcohol
``Just say no'' doesn't put an end to the problem, according to Hampton Roads seniors. They see drugs and alcohol in the schools and some neighborhoods, and the pressure to use it keeps mounting.
Seventy percent of students feel that the use of drugs and alcohol by their peers has increased since they started school. Forty-three percent overall reported experimenting with marijuana. Others said drugs and alcohol are used in their schools because it is widely accepted.
``People don't see anything wrong with it. I know people at my school who smoke pot, and it's no big deal to them,'' said Lisa Pearce, a senior at Lakeland High School in Suffolk.
Drinking, too, has become a major problem among teens. Forty-two percent of Hampton Roads seniors, however, claim that they never drink alcohol. The other 58 percent have a variety of drinking habits that range from drinking at least once a week to drinking less often than twice a month. A recent Norfolk Academy graduate said she has never done drugs, and does not drink alcohol.
``I'm not interested in getting drunk or getting embarrassed,'' said 18-year-old Annie Lahren, who lives in Virginia Beach.
AIDS and abortion
Although 83 percent of the respondents said they know enough about AIDS to protect themselves, many argue that more could be done to educate students.
``I don't like the way they teach it in school,'' said Kristy Cuffee, 18, a senior at Deep Creek High School in Chesapeake. ``I think they should bring someone who has AIDS in there.''
On the touchy issue of abortion, 45 percent of students thought abortion should be available in all circumstances. The other 55 percent had opinions that ranged from thinking that abortion should be banned completely, to thinking that it should be restricted for minors.
``Women are going to have abortion anyway. It would keep the death rate down (if kept legal),'' said Kelly Engel, 18, a student at Cox High School in Virginia Beach. ``They should keep government out; it's a personal choice.''
Other factors
With peer pressure and other factors that could hinder a student's scholastic achievement, The Virginian-Pilot asked seniors if anything stood in their way of doing the most they could, and if so what.
``I have achieved the most I could,'' said Codie Ferguson, a senior at Indian River High School in Chesapeake. ``Honestly, the one thing that stands in the way of immediately attending an institution of higher learning is money, but that will not stop me from achieving the plans God has for my life.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by BILL TIERNAN\The Virginian-Pilot
Louella Cabales, above, the salutatorian of Lake Taylor High
School's Class of 1996, practices her address Wednesday backstage at
Chrysler Hall shortly before the start of commencement, while some
of her classmates, below, wait in a hallway before the
processional. A majority of the area's graduates said their
education was good to outstanding.
KEYWORDS: GRADUATES GRADUATIONS HAMPTON ROADS SURVEY by CNB