Think back to your experience of middle school and high school. Did you generally look forward to entering those buildings? Did you have a network of friends who mattered to you? Did you feel that teachers generally cared about you and challenged you to learn?

If you answered yes to these questions, then you enjoyed a developmental asset called "school connectedness." Studies indicate that teenagers who are positively connected to school enjoy a special protection against drug use.

Even so, up to 60 percent of all American students feel disconnected from school during their teenage years. And this does not include the students who drop out.

"We have a culture of detachment in our nation's schools," says Dr. Robert Blum, of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "Essentially, we're telling kids: ‘You're on your own,' and while some succeed, many don't."

In 2003, Blum convened a meeting of school superintendents, principals, and representatives from various federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Education. The group gathered at the Wingspread Conference Center in Wisconsin and issued a policy statement titled "The Wingspread Declaration on School Connections." This document and six supporting articles were published in the September 2004 issue of the Journal of School Health.

According to the Wingspread Declaration, school connectedness includes:

• being held to high academic standards
• getting support to meet those standards
• classroom environments that are both structured and caring
• positive relationships with adults
• feeling physically and emotionally safe at school

Students who experience these factors tend to be academic achievers--no matter what their race, ethnic group, or level of family income. And they're more likely to delay use of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs.

For example, researchers at the University of Washington collected 20 years worth of data on students attending public schools in high-risk areas of Seattle. According to this study's findings:

• Students who experienced higher school connectedness in fifth and sixth grade were less likely to smoke during adolescence.
• An increase in school connectedness between seventh and twelfth grades reduced the risk of alcohol, cigarette, marijuana, and other drug use.
• School connectedness in fifth, eighth, and tenth grades reduced the risk of alcohol abuse and dependence at age 21.

In addition, students with higher levels of school connectedness delayed their first sexual experience. They also had fewer problems with emotional distress, violent behavior, and gang membership.

Citing this study and related research, the framers of the Wingspread Declaration called on schools across the country to promote connectedness with classrooms based on "authoritative rather than authoritarian leadership." In such classrooms, all students get an opportunity to take part in discussions, choose group assignments, and work in small teams with students of differing abilities and backgrounds.

Also important is ensuring that every student feels close to at least one supportive adult at school and creating connections with parents.

"We already know that parental involvement in school is very important in terms of how young people think about school and imagine their possibilities within it and beyond," says Michael Resnick, professor of pediatrics and public health at the University of Minnesota.

"Parents can help kids feel connected to school by giving attention and importance to understanding what's going on at school, and giving feedback about what's working and what needs more work," Resnick adds.

More specifically, you can help your children connect to school by:

• Initiating conversations with teachers about how your child is doing.
• Helping your child with homework, paying special attention to assignments that develop reading and math skills.
• Creating a home environment that supports learning.
• Clearly explaining what behaviors you accept and do not accept.
• Imposing fair but consistent consequences for undesired behavior.
• Modeling behaviors that are consistent with your values.

--Published September 18, 2006