Pubdate: Tue, 26 Mar 2002
Source: Herald Chronicle, The (TN)
Copyright: The Herald Chronicle 2002
Contact: 906 Dinah Shore Blvd Winchester, TN 37398
Website: http://www.heraldchronicle.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2033
Author: Brian Mosely
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

SCHOOL BOARD OKAYS STUDENT DRUG SURVEY

Franklin County students in sixth, seventh and eighth grade will soon be 
participating in an anonymous statewide survey on drug and alcohol abuse 
after the Board of Education approved the action Thursday night.

The State Department of Health created the survey and the University of 
Tennessee will compel its data.

With the age of children that experiment with drugs and drink with falling 
into the elementary and junior high school levels, educators are finding 
that they must begin to intervene at an earlier age.

The Board was told that while use of the "traditional" drugs is down, the 
abuse of inhalants, available in almost any store, has shot way up.

The data will help educators learn when and where the problems with drugs 
begin.

The computer that analyzes the data will also be able to tell if a survey 
has "bogus answers", likely caused by a student filling out the form with 
false information.

No student will be identified in the surveys and each form will be sealed 
into an envelope and sent to the university for evaluation. Local educators 
would not have access to the raw data and the student participating in the 
survey are anonymous.

Parents will have the option of excluding their kids if they do not wish 
for them to participate. Students will also have the choice of refusing to 
take the survey as well.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom