The Youth Risk Behavior Survey monitors six types of health risk behaviors that could impact adolescents later in life, but it’s the questions that have some parents concerned.
“It seemed like they tried to lull the kids with innocent questions about wearing helmets and seatbelts and then all the sudden it took a sinister turn,” Steve Newman told 7 Eyewitness News.
Newman is the father of a Ken-Ton middle school student. He says his seventh grade daughter was asked to answer question on topics he’s spent years guarding her from, like sexual intercourse.
“My daughter isn’t even a teenager yet and I don’t think this is the time to bring that stuff up,” Newman says.
Dr. Gale Burstein, Erie County Health Commissioner, says these surveys have been used since 1991 and for decades have given school administrators and health professionals a candid look into issues plaguing today’s youth.
“If you do it over a period of time you can follow trends but it also gives us an idea of these educational needs that we have,” Burstein said.
A spokesperson for the Ken-Ton school district says the survey is optional and anonymous and information collected is used to better serve students.
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