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2013 Knox County Schools High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey

The Knox County Health Department and the Knox county Schools recently released the Youth Risk Behavior Survey for high schoolers. This survey, conducted every two years, asks Knox County Schools (KCS) high school students questions about a lot of different things to get a sense of what our youth are doing, both in and out of the classroom.

There is a lot of information contained in this report, from how often adolescents use tobacco or drugs to how many wear helmets when riding bicycles. It also asks several questions about sex.

Here are some of the highlights, takeaways and trends from this report:

• More than one out of three (37.8 percent) KCS high school students has had sex. This is down from 43.5 percent in 2011.
• Nearly a quarter (22.2 percent) of KCS 9^th graders report they have had sex.
• Just over one half (54.4 percent) of sexually active KCS high school students say they used a condom the last time they had sex. This is down slightly from the previous survey conducted in 2011.
• A quarter of KCS high schoolers report having used drugs or alcohol the last time they had sex.
• More than 10 percent (10.7) of KCS high school girls report having been physically forced to have unwanted sex at least once in their lifetime.
• More than 10 percent (10.3) of KCS high schoolers say they’ve been physically hurt by their boyfriend or girlfriend over the past year.
• Nearly 20 percent (19.6) of students say they’ve been bullied on school property in the past 12 months. This is number is higher than it was in the surveys conducted in 2009 and 2011.

This is only a brief summary, there’s much more information in the actual survey, and it is not all negative! Find out for yourself, to read the entire report, click on the image in this post.