The use and abuse of dangerous and illicit drugs, particularly among young people, continues to rise despite recent efforts to develop and implement drug education programs in schools. This study investigated substance use by rural Kansas fifth and sixth graders. Independent variables were gender, family structure, perceived relationship with parents, family substance use, attitude towards family, peer substance use, and self-concept. Dependent variables were number of cigarettes smoked, frequency of cigarette use, amount of alcohol use, frequency of alcohol use, frequency of smokeless tobacco use, and frequency of marijuana use. The sample consisted of 160 students, comprised of 71 fifth graders, 89 sixth graders, with 78 males and 82 females. A status survey design was employed using a three-way analysis of variance. Results showed peer substance use was a significant main effect for all dependent variables, and was more influential when attitude towards family was average to poor. Higher family substance use resulted in significantly higher mean use by subjects in 11 out of 15 interactions. Subjects with poor self-concept who were users nearly always reported greater mean use than those with positive self-concepts. Although peer influence is a significant factor, this study supports the importance of low substance use by family, and of maintaining a working relationship with the child in reducing substance use among rural elementary students. (Author/LLL)