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Survey offers glimpse at Class of 2003

By Caroline Trowbridge - | May 21, 2003

Most will to head to college. Most grew up in two-parent families. And most say they never smoke cigarettes.

In addition, many of them held down jobs during high school. Only a handful watched television for longer than four hours a day.

A large number of them have Internet access at home, but most say they limit their Web surfing to less than an hour each day.

They thought the education they received at Tonganoxie High School was strong and their teachers were above-average.

That’s according to a survey The Mirror newspaper conducted with 95 of the 117 members of Tonganoxie’s Class of 2003. The written survey, done with the help of the high school, consisted of 32 questions, which the students answered anonymously.

The questions centered on the students’ plans, their social habits, their political and religious views and their assessment of their school.

Their responses were not sung in unison. They ran the spectrum, as one might expect from nearly 100 young adults.

And that comes as no surprise to Kathy Walker, counselor at Tonganoxie High School.

“I would say that this class is very diverse,” she said.

According to the survey:

  • About 34 percent said alcohol abuse either wasn’t much of a problem or was not a problem at their school. Conversely, the other 66 percent said it was a serious problem (23 percent) or somewhat of a problem (43 percent).
  • Drug abuse, in the students’ views, is slightly more of a problem. A total of 33 percent said it was a serious problem, and 40 percent said it was somewhat of a problem. Only 8 percent said it wasn’t a problem, and 19 percent said it wasn’t much of a problem.
  • Very few students plan to live here after education — only 14 percent. A total of 75 percent of them think they’ll be better off financially than their parents. And 87 percent of them would vote for a qualified woman for president.
  • During their senior years, most spent less than five hours a week on homework. But 14 percent said they worked between five hours and 10 hours on studies, and just 1 percent said they spent more than 10 hours.
  • About half consider themselves sexually active. A total of 80 percent say they never use marijuana, while 41 percent say they never use alcohol. Concerning alcohol, another 21 percent said they drank once or more a week, but not daily; 2 percent said they drank daily; and 35 percent said they drank once or more a month, but not weekly.