By AILA BOYD
aboyd@ourvalley.org
The Botetourt County School Board voted unanimously to approve the administration of the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey at its monthly meeting last Thursday.
This will mark the 10th time that the survey has been administered to county students. The survey was previously conducted in 1998, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017.
Fourteen hundred, ninety-seven middle and high school students will be given the opportunity to participate in the survey. Only students in 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th grades will receive the survey. Unlike in previous years, the survey will be administered online.
A parent notification letter and opt out form from Superintendent John Busher will be mailed to parents early next month.
“The information gathered from the survey will be used to improve health education and other community programs aimed at the prevention of behaviors that put our youth at risk,” Busher said in a draft of the notification letter. “The Botetourt County School Board supports the ongoing collection of this valuable data to help school and community personnel serve the youth in our community.”
The actual survey will take place on March 14. March 21 has been scheduled as a make-up day.
The decision to administer the first Youth Risk Behavior Survey was made in 1998 following several suicides and attempted suicides, which prompted the district to take action in order to gain better insight into the lives of area middle and high school students.
Chairman Michael Beahm noted that the survey was fairly controversial when it was first introduced.
“I remember when this first began,” Beahm said. “It was kind of a hot topic.”
Questions will relate to tobacco use, alcohol use, drug use, social behaviors, sexual activity, personal safety and bullying. The survey for sixth grade students will not include questions related to sexual activity.
Due to the rise of electronic cigarettes and vaping, new questions addressing both of those matters have been added to the survey.
Busher’s letter also notes that the survey is confidential and that no personal identifiable information will be collected.
Data from the survey will be analyzed by research specialists at Blue Ridge Behavioral Health and Radford University.
The results of the survey will be made available sometime in the summer or fall of this year.
