The mission of the PTSA Drug and Alcohol Committee is to reduce drug & alcohol usage by Gunn students, and to educate students and parents about teen drug & alcohol issues.  The committee is involved in the following activities:
 

• Plans an annual student drug & alcohol-themed    assembly for March/April • Communicates annual survey results to students    through poster campaigns or other marketing vehicles • Communicates annual survey results to parents    by letter,  the Spotlight newsletter, Gunn Connection    and back-to-school packet flyer • Sends the Underage Drinking & Driving handbook    to freshman parents in April (download pdf) • Coordinates with PTSA Parent Ed Chair to create    a parent education night on drugs & alcohol • Meets monthly with Gunn Staff and student reps    to discuss matters specific to the Gunn campus

Committee members also serve as a liaison to the Palo Alto Drug and Alcohol Community Collaborative (PADACC).  PADACC brings together representatives of PAUSD, the PAUSD secondary schools, Palo Alto Police Department, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Palo Alto YMCA, The American Red Cross Safe Rides Program, Adolescent Counseling Services and other community organizations, working together to reduce drug and alcohol use among Palo Alto’s youth, and to raise awareness of substance abuse issues and implement environmental strategies aimed at reducing underage substance use and abuse.

In October 2008 Gunn High School Students were surveyed on their use, attitudes and perceptions of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, other drugs, and related risky behavior.  This survey was entitled the Reality Check Survey.  One of the outcomes was that students frequently over-estimate the number of students involved in risky behaviors.  As young people are often enticed to do what they perceive as socially acceptable by their peers, communicating to our students that there is a misconception about the extent of risky behaviors being pursued by their peers can improve behavior.  For more information about the Reality Check Survey of October 2008 and 2009 click here.  (Reality Check Survey)

Similar outcomes were identified in February of 2006 when Gunn High School Students participated in the Most of Us Youth Web Survey. The information collected by this survey includes student behaviors, perceptions, and attitudes towards alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.  For more information about the 2006 survey click here.  (Most of Us Youth Survey 2006)