PARIS – It’s no surprise when Joan Churchill, director of development and family services at Paris-based Community Concepts Inc., says almost everyone has a personal story about the misuse of alcohol.

Seventeen percent of all sixth grade students and a whopping 75 percent of high school seniors say they have drank alcohol, according to the Maine Youth Drug and Alcohol Survey conducted last year.

Churchill and local officials are trying to do something about it.

Parents and others will be able to learn about survey findings and comment on them at a public hearing from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 8, at the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School. Representatives from Community Concepts and Healthy Oxford Hills will present the report’s key findings then review materials that national experts say can deter teenage use of alcohol.

“We’ve been meeting with a lot of community groups,” Churchill said recently. “They’re real passionate about wanting to do something about the issues and not only about young people, but their parents.”

The survey on adolescent and adult alcohol and other drug use was conducted by Community Concepts, Healthy Oxford Hills and the River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition in order to develop a county-level strategic substance abuse prevention plan.

Among findings released in February, the survey showed that 29 percent of students had consumed at least one alcoholic beverage in the previous 30 days, and 14 percent had binged on alcohol in the two weeks before the survey was taken. A total of 27 percent of seventh-graders have consumed alcohol and the number increases with each grade level, according to the survey. None of the sixth-graders reported using marijuana but nearly half of the senior class members had.

Law enforcement officials, who banded together with agencies earlier this year to develop strategies to combat the illegal use of alcohol by minors, have said the extent of the problem even surprised them.

Churchill said the needs assessment shows that teen alcohol use is a big contributor to crime, vehicular crashes, unplanned pregnancies and sexual violence, including date rape.

Oxford County Sheriff Wayne Gallant has also stated that alcohol is a major factor in death and injury in Oxford Hills traffic crashes, homicide, suicide, drownings, falls and burns. Churchill said one-third of fatal car crashes in Maine involving young people are alcohol-related.

Meetings have been ongoing since the release of the information, and parents and others are welcome to attend. The next meeting will be from noon to 1 p.m. Monday, May 7, at the Norway Town Hall.

Churchill is asking people to attend the public hearing to see how methods such as parental monitoring and parental expectations can be used as tools to deter young people from using alcohol and drugs and to discuss their concerns.