LAURINBURG — Carver Middle School was randomly selected by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction to participate in the 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
The 70 question survey will be administered sometime between now and April to a sampling of sixth- through eighth-grade students at Carver, according to Jamie Synan, director of student support services. The Department of Public Instruction partnered with the Department of Public Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to create the survey which is conducted in each state every year.
DPI partnered with the Department of Public Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to create the survey that is conducted in each state every year.
“The purpose of the survey is so these agencies can know what services need to be put out in the communities and schools,” Synan said. “The information collected from Carver will be generalized and reported statewide. The responses are anonymous, when the results come back it will just show what the results are for the state, Carver, Scotland County nor will any students be mentioned.”
Synan said she and Carver Middle School Principal Michael Chapman are still working on how the students will be selected. Parents will receive letters about the survey and can choose to have their child participate.
“We’ve decided to include the opt in or opt out, just like we do with the health lessons, because there are some questions on the survey about sex education, weapons and drug use,” said Synan. “So we wanted to make sure the parents had the option to decided if they wanted their student to participate in the survey. If we don’t have a letter back, then they won’t be able to take the survey.”
A copy of the questionnaire will be available in the principal’s office. Synan said because of the nature of some of the questions the school will have nurses and counselors on hand for students that have questions after taking the survey.
“We are going to have additional counselors on staff because there is a question about suicide, there is a question about sexual activity and drug use,” said Synan. “We wanted to make sure we had nurses and school-based mental health counselors so if students have questions we have personnel on hand that can help answer those.”
A letter will be sent with the students that do participate in the survey, just so parents know their child was selected and they might have questions or they might have topics that needed to be discussed.
Board members asked Synan to make it clear to parents that the survey will include questions like: Have you ever had sexual intercourse and have you ever been taught about abstaining from sexual activity?
“We deal with this in the healthy living course, I just want to make sure the letter that goes home is clear that students will be asked if they have ever had sex,” said board member Jamie Sutherland. “They just need to understand that it’s there.”
It was also emphasized by Synan that students don’t have to answer any question that makes them uncomfortable.
Amber Hatten can be reached at 910-506-3170.
