2007 survey offers some facts

Here is the report on the 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey for students in grades 9, 10, 11 and 12 for the Arlington public schools prepared by James E. Byrne Jr. of Northeast Health Resources of Haverhill. 

INTRODUCTION

The Arlington Public Schools contracted with Northeast Health Resources (NHR) to carry out the tabulation and overview analysis of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) which was implemented with students in grades 9 though 12. The survey was primarily based on one developed specifically for high school students at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. The survey contains 124 questions.  Students responded to questions which fall under general categories of risk behaviors including: safety, violence, gambling, stress, internet use, suicide, tobacco use, alcohol use, illegal drug use, HIV/AIDS education, sexual behavior, dietary behavior, physical activity, self-care, and helping resources.

Every other year, the Massachusetts Department of Education carries out a Youth Risk Behavior Survey for high school students from a cross-section of school systems in the state.  The most recent state-wide survey was carried out by the Department of Education in the Spring of 2005.  The survey was administered to students from 51 randomly selected public high schools in the state. 

An overview of the results of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey as well as a comparison with certain of the data from the 2005 Massachusetts YRBS are included herein.

SURVEY PROCESS

It was agreed that the Youth Risk Behavior Survey would be distributed to all students in attendance on the survey date from grades 9, 10, 11 and 12.  The survey was administered on December 17, 2007 simultaneously to all students by classroom teachers during homeroom period.  Teachers were provided with written instructions, which were read to all students before taking the survey.

Once all of the surveys were completed, they were gathered and tabulated. There were a total of 953 students who responded to the survey, 260 from grade 9, 220 from grade 10, 252 from grade 11 and 220 from grade 12. There were 485 females and 468 males who responded to the survey. One student did not indicate her/his grade.

ANALYSIS OF DATA

Frequencies of responses are reported for all items in the survey and cross-tabulations are provided for three demographic characteristics:  grade, gender, and grade/gender.  The results of the survey, including all cross-tabulations, are presented in percentages under separate cover.  Please note that the data results were tabulated in percentages, rounded to the nearest tenth of one percent and not all percentages will total exactly 100 due to rounding and no responses in some cases.