Troubling ‘way of life’ in Rusk County leads officials to target teen drinking

Luke Klink

Many Rusk County teens report drinking alcohol is just part of growing up. Others think the risky behavior has become a troubling “way of life.”

Members of the Rusk County Youth Development Coalition, a group of professionals from 10 sectors in the county, use statistics gleaned from local student surveys and focus group interviews conducted during the last few years to support their effort to lower the high rate of underage drinking in the county. Almost one third of high school seniors in Rusk County reported getting drunk during the two weeks prior to the survey. Two thirds of high school seniors reported attending one or more parties in the last year “where other kids [their] age were drinking.”

Statistics from two separate surveys of area students show alcohol consumption begins at an early age and only become more ingrained and worsens as youth reach adulthood.

Five percent of sixth-graders and 67 percent of high school seniors reported being at drinking parties where other students their age were drinking in the last year.

Eleven percent of sixth-graders and 46 percent of high school seniors said they used alcohol once or more in the last 30 days.

Four percent of sixth-graders and 31 percent of high school seniors of sixth-graders said they got drunk once or more in the last two weeks.

The results come from the Wisconsin Youth Risk Behavior Survey given in 2007 to Bruce, Flambeau, Ladysmith-Hawkins and Weyerhaeuser school district students and the Search Institute’s Developmental Assets Survey given in 2005 to Bruce and Ladysmith-Hawkins school district students. The combined results paint a troubling picture of children consuming alcohol.

Among high school seniors:

—35 percent said they drove after drinking once or more in the last 12 months.

— 49 percent said they rode once or more in the last 12 months with a driver who had been drinking, compared with 46 percent of sixth-graders.

The surveys were followed up with community focus group sessions.

“We found it was even higher,” said Gloria McGahey said. “This county has an issue with underage drinking, and we would like to get the issue out and people thinking about it.”

In addition to the surveys, five focus groups were conducted last June and July with youth ranging in age from 12-20 years old. Another six adult focus groups were held over a three month period starting last November. Community leaders interviewed included the mayor, city council, law enforcement, public health, media, district attorney, citizens, parents, school administrators and educators.

“Whatever the reasons that are there, alcohol consumption is dropping to a lower and lower age level,” McGahey said. Coalition members point to large alcohol displays in stores, beer freely served at graduation parties and lax enforcement of codes and ordinances. They say efforts like the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) lecture to children about the dangers of drinking and don’t strike at the “way of life” in a community. to risky behavior like drunk driving, but also health and medical problems, according to Nancy Kraft, who wrote the grant application.

“The kids think they are invincible and that nothing is going to happen to them,” Kraft said.

“As youth grow into adulthood in Rusk County, these at-risk behaviors become even more pronounced with Rusk County having some of the highest percentages of alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes at 11 percent compared to Wisconsin which is at 7 percent,” according to Kraft.

“And parents say it is alcohol, at least it’s not drugs,” she said. “They don’t see it as a drug.”

McGahey said part of the problem is that many adults in the view alcohol consumption as an acceptable way of life in the county.

Alcohol consumption — like other risky behaviors like smoking and poor nutrition — are often seen in rural areas with high poverty rates like Rusk County, according to County health officer Kayo Nash. She said while these other behaviors also carry significant risks, the risks of alcohol consumption can have a sudden and immediate impact on a person’s life.

“It does definitely go along with the culture of poverty,” Nash said. “With underage alcohol consumption, it is a very risky behavior when combined with driving and unplanned sexual activities.”

Rusk County Sheriff Dave Kaminski was hopeful the grant would help bring awareness to young people and the community that the abuse of alcohol is dangerous, affecting not only their lives but the lives of their family, friends and community.

“I believe that education is of the utmost importance and this grant will allow us the funding to educate and hopefully change the attitudes that drinking is not dangerous and does not hurt anyone, as it very much does. We in law enforcement see weekly the effects that alcohol has on lives and communities,” Kaminski said.

Grant will help

The Rusk County Youth Development Coalition received a $350,000 grant from the state Department of Public Health to focus on environmental factors that contribute to the county’s high rates of underage drinking. The Indianhead Community Action Agency based in Ladysmith is the fiscal agent for the grant from the Wisconsin Department of Public Health. Twenty counties are taking part in the grant.

The focus during a 2.5-year period will be on the physical environment addressing the messages youth see about drinking, the social environment addressing the values and norms about drinking alcohol in the county and the policy and systems regarding underage drinking. The overall goals of the wide-ranging effort include limiting access to alcohol; enforcing current laws through increased enforcement of underage laws, school enforcement of athletic and co-curricular codes and parental codes; educating the community and creating awareness of the problems in the county caused by underage drinking; and increasing activities that positively engage youth.

Implementation of the grant begins next month, initially through a slogan/logo contest, three youth video public service announcements, and ramped up alcohol sale compliance checks, enforcement of school athletic codes and informational campaigns to parents hosting teen parties. McGahey said the effort will only target the abuse of underage drinking and the problems to youth and the community and not the social aspect. She insisted the effort is not to close taverns or other legal operations.

Changing the culture

The ICAA is a non-profit agency that works with low-income people and families, providing resources to enable low-income and disadvantaged people in rural areas attain skills, knowledge and motivation to become self-sufficient. Grant recipients believe alcohol and substance abuse are at the root of so many barriers for success.

Grant recipients believe they face an uphill battle in a county where alcohol consumption from ubiquitous beer displays to local events where drinking is viewed as part of the celebrations. They must battle social norms and the culture of drinking.

“We know this is an issue in the community — to change the culture and attitudes in an effort to remedy some of the problems we have,” said ICAA Executive Director Brett Gerber said. “And a culture can be slow in changing.”



— This is the first in an occasional series of stories on the effects of alcohol consumption and abuse in Rusk County.

Underage drinking not only leads