Pubdate: Wed, 09 Oct 2002
Source: South Whidbey Record (WA)
Copyright: 2002 South Whidbey Record
Contact:  http://www.southwhidbeyrecord.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2515
Author: Gayle Saran
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

SURVEY ASKS STUDENTS ABOUT HEALTH, SAFETY

State health and South Whidbey School District officials want to know the 
habits and behaviors of South Whidbey school students -- the ones they 
can't see at school.

This week, middle and high students are taking a multiple choice survey 
with questions about their schools, their community and their health habits.

The voluntary and anonymous Healthy Youth Survey will be administered 
during school hours. Answers to questions about friends and neighbors, 
eating and exercise habits, and knowledge and attitudes about the use of 
tobacco, alcohol, marijuana and other drugs, safety and violence will 
reveal patterns of behavior in the district.

"These are not just school issues, these are community issues," said Diane 
Watson, director of special services for the South Whidbey School district. 
"I am a big fan of this survey because it is our responsibility to measure 
our successes and evaluate what programs work, and identify areas that need 
to be addressed."

Watson said the test allows the district to track the same students through 
sixth, eighth and 10th grades. The numbers of students participating in the 
survey is on the increase from just a few hundred in 1998 to more than 700 
this year, Watson said.

Results from the study will be released next spring.

The state Superintendent of Public Instruction uses the information from 
the survey to assess students' risk factors and health behaviors.

Statewide information is used to develop programs to support children in 
schools and communities. A notice about the survey was sent home with 
students giving parents the option to decide if they want their child to 
participate.

More than 100,000 Washington students took the survey in 2000. It is 
sponsored by the state Department of Health, the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction and the Department of Social and Health Services Division of 
Alcohol and Substance Abuse.
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D