In many ways, our work is driven by assessments. The surveys we conduct every two years help us to not only see what risky behaviors are decreasing and protective factors are increasing, but also it also shows emerging trends and issues that we need to focus on as an organization and as a community.
In 2014, Community Partners staff traveled to Buffalo County schools to help administer the Youth Risk Behavior survey, Youth Risk and Protective Factor survey, and Youth Tobacco survey.
In the 2014 Youth Risk Behavior surveys we found some of the following:
- The number of youth who’ve driven a car after drinking has continued to decline, reaching its low of 4% in 2014.
- The number of youth who felt unsafe and did not go to school dropped from 6% to 5% over the past two years, but is still higher than the 1% it saw in 2000.
- The number of youth who smoked at least one cigarette in the past 30 days continued to drop, reaching 5% in 2014, compared with 25% in 2000.
- The number of youth who drank pop every day of the week continued to drop, and is now at only 13%, compared with 23% in 2010.
- The number of youth who reported watching two or more hours of TV daily decreased from 43% to 29% from 2009 to 2014, but the number of youth who reported using a computer for two or more hours per day increased from 21% to 41% over that same time period
The entire 134-page document outlining all the questions and responses is available on our website at bcchp.org/assessments. Comprehensive data reports are being built that break down some of the information into easier-to-read highlights, and those will be available by the end of the month. For more information on how surveys are conducted, please visit the assessments page on our website.