Study: Risky Behavior in N.J. Teens Down
Posted on: Tuesday, 3 October 2006, 21:00 CDT
By GEOFF MULVIHILL
MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. - High school students in New Jersey were smoking, drinking, doing drugs and having sex less in 2005 than high school students in 2001, according to a survey released Tuesday.
The declines in risky behavior are in line with national statistics, according to officials at the state Education Department, which released the state's Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
There was only one area where New Jersey high school students were facing bigger risks than their peers nationwide, said Tom Collins, the Education Department's coordinator of data and evaluation. "More drugs were bought and sold on school property than in other states," he said.
Nearly one in three New Jersey high schoolers said they were offered drugs at school; nationally, that number was about one in four.
The Education Department asked selected schools to administer the survey, which was voluntary for both schools and students. To participate, students had to have their parents' consent.
While the survey is given every two years, it's rare for participation to be high enough to make the results statistically significant. They were, however, in the newly released survey, as well as in 2001 and 1995.
From 2001 to 2005, most risky behavior declined.
For instance, the percentage of high-school students who had ever had sex fell from 47 to 44 and the percentage of those who had sex and used condoms rose from 64 to a highest-in-the-nation 71 percent.
Gary Vermeyer, the Education Department's coordinator for safe and drug-free schools, said one reason for less risky behavior could be that there is more professional development for teachers and other school staff to recognize troubling behavior and that every school has an intervention team to deal with children who may have problems.
Students were not healthier on every front, however. According to the survey, only 17 percent were eating five servings a day of fruit and vegetables. That was down from 26 percent in 2001.
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On the Net:
The Youth Risk Behavior Survey: http://www.nj.gov/njded/students/yrbs/2005/
Source: Associated Press/AP Online
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