At Waterville High School in Waterville, Maine, four hundred students and teachers declared that they would abstain from alcohol use for the next thirty days, the Morning Sentinel reported on March 31.

They wore purple shirts printed with their pledge and the slogan, "Is there a problem?"

"We think it's pretty obvious that there is a problem," said Kim Landry, one of four students who organized the awareness event as part of a community service class.

The event also included a film about student and teacher perceptions of students' alcohol use. While survey results indicate that 41 percent of students at Waterville High School had used alcohol in the past month, most students overestimated their peers' alcohol use by 40 or 50 percent.

The Maine Youth Drug and Alcohol Use Survey, conducted by the Prevention Coalition of Greater Waterville Communities for Children and Youth in 2004, also indicated that 60 percent of students had used alcohol before, and nearly 16 percent had engaged in binge drinking in the past two weeks.

Nonetheless, Waterville's student alcohol use remains slightly below the statewide average.

Waterville Public School System's recently adopted substance use policy is less punitive than some, focusing on keeping students alcohol- and drug-free, but in school.

"Suspending kids does not help the substance abuse issue," said Cyndi Desroisers, project director. "In fact, they end up causing mroe damage in the community when they are suspended."