NORTON - Establishing a teen center, acknowledging positive behavior more and a greater voice for middle school students in their school are among the school department's goals in response to a new drug and alcohol survey of local middle and high school students.

Students in grades 6 to 12 taking the Communities That Care Youth Survey last June indicated they want such initiatives, Norton High wellness teacher Mike Vitelli told the school committee Monday night.

The overwhelming majority of students said they hadn't used alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes or other substances over the prior 30 days.

Alcohol was the drug of choice in both schools. Marijuana was second at Norton High, and third at Norton Middle School. Inhalants were second at the middle school.

Vitelli said 49 percent of high school students nationwide report drinking alcohol. "We've spent a lot of time focusing on that 49 percent," Vitelli said. "We've decided to focus on that 51 percent that have decided not to."

Norton High students indicated they are modeling their parents, said Vitelli, who said "big giraffes have little giraffes."

"There's not a lot of supervision from their families. There's a lot of destructive behavior. There's a lot of anti-social behavior," he said.

"They feel that they're not getting a lot of parental supervision."

High school students also indicated their good behavior isn't being recognized enough, he said.

And they don't feel there's a place for them to socialize, he said.

Getting 100 Norton High School parents to pledge, by June, to establish "safe homes," where students know they'll be drug and alcohol free on Friday and Saturday is another goal.

Middle school students, meanwhile, "feel like they're being cared for and nurtured, but they want a bigger voice" in the school, Vitelli said.

Norton High has a leadership council, and now wants to establish one at the middle school, he said. Starting a junior Students Against Destructive Decisions chapter at the middle school is another goal, he said.

"If we're doing our due diligence and we're doing our job with students, the (negative) numbers will go down," Vitelli said. The survey is part of an effort by Norton, Foxboro and Mansfield school and community members to address youth drug and alcohol use in their communities.

Earlier this month, the towns' Tri-Town Drug and Alcohol Awareness Partnership was among the sponsors of a forum on the issue, at Showcase Live at Patriot Place in Foxboro.

Norton Superintendent Patricia Ansay said Foxboro and Mansfield school officials will release their survey results shortly, and predicted Norton's numbers would be consistent with them.

Although the schools have done "a wonderful job" showing students "the dangers of smoking," Ansay said, "conversely, we haven't done a good job with underage drinking."