GALVESTON — Galveston schoolchildren are fighting more and most are having sex by the time they graduate high school, but fewer are drinking and smoking.

The seventh Children’s Report Card is a collaborative effort between Galveston’s public school district and the University of Texas Medical Branch to measure risky behavior among Galveston schoolchildren.

More than 1,700 high school students and 1,400 middle school students in Galveston responded to the 2007 survey, anonymously answering questions about alcohol, drug and tobacco use, sexual intercourse, exercise and nutrition.

Fighting

Fighting in school has become increasingly common since the new millennium, according to survey results.

In 2007, almost 35 percent of Ball High students said they’d been in a fight before — that’s up from 32 percent in 2002 and 2004. Not only are they fighting more, but the risk of getting hurt during those fights has increased as well. Almost two out of every 10 students surveyed said they carried a weapon, sometimes to school. According to the survey, students are more likely to have been threatened or injured by a weapon at school in 2007 than they were in 2000.

Ball High School hired extra hall monitors last year and added police officers to the district’s force in the past couple of years in an effort to combat fighting, Superintendent Lynne Cleveland said. School staff also investigates all tips of weapons at school, and the district expects to have a Crime Stoppers program in place within a month, she said.

The study noted that students are safer at school than elsewhere, the survey reported. There’s a higher rate of weapons and fighting off school premises than on.

Alcohol, Tobacco And Drugs

In 2007, fewer Galveston students reported drinking than they did in 2000. Though 71 percent say they’ve tried alcohol at least once, that’s still lower than the 83 percent who admitted to drinking in 2000, and lower than the state and national averages.

Cigarette smoking among high school students everywhere has continued to decline in the past seven years, and Galveston teens are no exception. In Galveston, 17 percent said they smoked in the month before the survey was taken, and 44 percent had ever tried cigarettes. State and nationwide, more than half of high students have smoked at least once.

Drug use in Galveston continues to be on par with the state and nation. Among local high school students, 44 percent say they’ve tried marijuana, 11 percent used inhalants, 6 percent tried meth, 9 percent tried cocaine, 18 percent have tried Xanax and 10 percent have tried ecstasy.

Fewer than 8 percent of local students say they’ve used alcohol and marijuana at school, but that’s much higher than the Texas and national averages.

Galveston school district has a no-tolerance approach to drugs and alcohol — anyone caught in possession of or under the influence of drugs and alcohol is immediately transferred to the district’s alternative school, Cleveland said.

She added that the district is working with community organizations to raise money to hire social workers for each elementary campus and at-risk counselors for all middle and high schools.

Safe Sex And TV

More than half of Galveston schoolchildren said they’ve had sex by the ninth grade; 77 percent have had sex by the 12^th grade, but those rates aren’t much different from state and national averages. Most area students say they’ve been taught about HIV or AIDS in school and more Galveston students use condoms than their peers in Texas and the nation.

The district is revamping its sex education program to reach students at a younger age, Cleveland said.

Galveston schoolchildren also spend more time in front of the television than their peers elsewhere. In 2007, almost half reported watching TV for more than three hours per day, virtually the same percentage as in 2002. Those rates were higher than the Texas average of 41 percent and the national average of 37 percent.

Middle Schools

Since few surveys target middle school students, there is little information to compare local students with their peers in the state and nation.

But the survey does compare data from students at three island middle school schools — Central, Austin and Weis.

According to the data, Central has the highest rates of students who say they’ve been forced to have sex.

Weis has the highest rates of students reporting they’ve been physically assaulted by a boyfriend or girlfriend, had property stolen or damaged at school, taken birth control, drank alcohol at least once, tried cigarettes, tried marijuana and inhalants, popped prescription drugs or used alcohol or marijuana on school property.

Austin has the highest rates of students reporting they were involved in fights, injured in fights or had sex at least once.

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Survey Says

The high points

•95 percent of high school students, regardless of race or ethnicity, said they expected to go to college.

•The rates of suicidal thoughts or suicide attempts are lower among Galveston high school students than their peers in Texas and the United States.

•More Galveston schoolchildren use condoms than the state and national averages; 85 percent say they’ve been taught about AIDS or HIV in school.

•Though 71 percent of high school students say they had drank alcohol, this is less than the state and national average

The low points

•14.5 percent of high school students reported driving after drinking.

•9 percent of high school boys and girls report having been forced to have sex.

•51 percent of Galveston schoolchildren have had sex by the ninth grade; 77 percent reported having sex by the 12^th grade.

•High school students are fighting more than in previous years — 26 percent of high school girls, and 44.4 percent of high school boys have been in physical fight.